II. Heavy Oil Processing A. Fluid Catalytic Cracking 1. Mechanical Reliability Question 1 hat are the o!

erational li"its #velocity$ !ressure dro!$ a!!roach to sonic velocity% on &lue gas ori&ice cha"bers to avoid da"age due to vibrations' Can &lo( tubes be used to reduce this !roble"' Question ) hen should the *CC be res!onsible &or the control o& the air blo(er anti+ surge syste"$ and (hen is it reco""ended to utili,e a dedicated inde!endent controller' Question hat on+ strea" "ethods have been sa&ely and e&&ectively used to re!air leaks on the reactor+ regenerator e.ui!"ent to "aintain unit o!erations until the !lanned turnaround' ). /a&ety and 0nviron"ental Question 1 hat is the industry e2!erience (ith the use o& real ti"e dyna"ic si"ulators &or FCC3'

45e( unit startu! training. 46raining on e2isting units.

as the cost o& the si"ulator 7usti&ied in both cases' A&ter initial training$ are the si"ulators still being utili,ed' Question 8 3nder !ro!osed MAC6 II rules$ re&iners (ith scrubbers (ill be allo(ed to in&er /O2 re"oval e&&iciency by "onitoring o!erating !ara"eters. hat variables can be used to "onitor /O2 re"oval and do they vary de!ending on the ty!e o& scrubber being used' For units that (ill not have scrubbers$ (hat ty!e o& /O2 analy,er is being used' Question 9 Ho( does o2ygen enriching o& the FCC3 regenerator air strea" i"!act PM$ CO$ and 5O2 e"issions' -. Regeneration Question : Height o& the dense bed and catalyst distribution in the regenerator have i"!ortant i"!act on the regeneration e&&iciency and cyclone loadings. *escribe reliable "ethods &or "easuring the bed height$ catalyst distribution and;or cyclone loadings. Question < /o"e re&iners are currently using o2ygen enrich"ent to debottleneck their regenerators and allo( &eedstock &le2ibility. hat o2ygen levels are being !racticed$ and ho( is the enrich"ent !rocess controlled' hat is the i"!act on catalyst activity and "ake+ u! rates' 1. Reactor

Question = Catalyst sli! and distribution in the riser have a signi&icant i"!act on !roduct yields. "ethods are available &or evaluating these !ara"eters'

hat

Question 1> hat are the techni.ues &or deter"ining actual residence ti"es o& oil va!or and catalyst in the riser$ ?reactor? vessel$ stri!!ing bed and;or cyclones' Question 11 Ho( high a riser te"!erature has a re&iner actually o!erated (ith "odern riser ter"ination devices that reduce dilute !hase contact ti"e' Has 1>)8@F been run or e2ceeded on a consistent basis' hat yields or !roble"s are associated (ith this o!eration' Question 1) hy are so"e re&iners re!lacing the reactor va!or line &igure ?<? blinds (ith block valves' 8. O!ti"i,ation;*esign Question 1Advanced !rocess controllers #APC% are in (ide use no( and are re!orted to be .uite success&ul. 6he ne2t advance in controls a!!ears to be on+ line or real ti"e o!ti"i,ation #R6O%. I& (e i"!le"ent a R6O &or the FCC$ ho( large an i"!rove"ent should be e2!ected' Over an APC and (hy' /hould the R6O be li"ited to 7ust the FCC or e2!anded to include other units' 9. Feed and Product Quality Question 11 hat ty!es o& catalyst syste"s have been co""ercially !roven to reduce FCC gasoline sul&ur' hat level o& sul&ur reduction has been achieved' Question 18 hat shi&ts in !roduct sul&ur distribution have been achieved (ith ne( catalyst technologies' Ho( does this di&&er &or hydrotreated versus non+ hydrotreated &eeds' Question 19 For daily FCC3 o!eration "onitoring and o!ti"i,ation$ (hat &eed !ara"eters can be used to best !redict !roduct yields' Ho( o&ten should (e test &or these !ara"eters' Question 1: Ho( do you "a2i"i,e MO5 in an FCC3' :. Catalysts Question 1< Ho( do you o!ti"i,e catalyst !er&or"ance #conversion$ yield selectivity% against total catalyst cost #!rice$ "ake+ u! rate%' Ho( o&ten do you "ake this evaluation' Question 1= hat catalyst technologies e2ist &or units e.ui!!ed (ith "odern riser ter"ination designs' <. Fractionation Question )> Ho( !revalent is the utili,ation o& !acking #both structured and rando"% in the FCC &ractionator and associated gas !lant' hen are high ca!acity trays a !re&erred reva"! o!tion' Assu"ing no degradation in &ractionation !er&or"ance$ (hat ca!acity increases "ight one e2!ect'

Question )1 Ho( do you "a2i"i,e the ole&in content #C)A$ C-A% in FCC o&&gas' (hat are the best "ethods to recover the ole&ins'

hen is it econo"ical$ and

Question )) Ho( "any ther"ocou!les are located in the botto" #.uench% section o& the "ain &ractionator and ho( are they used to control coking and slurry !u"! around rates' Question )hen increasing ca!acity to the FCC3$ (hen does the inlet velocity to the "ain &ractionator beco"e a !roble"' Ho( is this overco"e' Question )1 hat e.ui!"ent or o!erational "odi&ications are needed to run 8 years versus 1 years' Question )8 hat are the kno(n or !otential sources o& ra!id and large iron de!osition #other than gradual and continuous accu"ulation &ro" &eed% that could introduce iron to the FCC3 o!erating syste"' B. Coking Question )9 hat are coke !roducing re&ineries doing to "ini"i,e dust e"issions$ in !articular during the loading o& trucks and rail cars' Question ): hat is the highest coker &eed CCR that can be !rocessed reliably in a coker' 1. Mechani,ed Reliability Question )< Regarding coke dru" integrity$ !lease co""ent onC

4Ho( long have dru"s been in service' 4 hat "etallurgy is used' 4Have you conducted laser scans' 4Have you e2!erienced de&or"ation$ cracking or corrosion' 4*o you "onitor dru" de&lection during coking;decoking o!erations'

Question )= hat initial .uench (ater rate is used &or dru" cooling' and ho( does the (ater rate vary'

hat is the duration o& the .uench cycle

Question -> Ho( do you !redict or "onitor the coke accu"ulation #location and thickness% inside the overhead lines o& coke dru"s' ). O!ti"i,ation Question -1 hen handling shot coke$ (hat are the biggest !roble"s$ and (hat do you do to avoid the"' Question -)

Are all shot cokes the sa"e' Can they be !redicted &ro" &eed !ro!erties' *oes slurry addition hel!' Question -hat do you do during decoking to save on cycle ti"e' Question -1 6o (hat e2tent have you auto"ated the decoking cycle' *o o!erators have re"ote "onitors on the structure$ (hich can be vie(ed to see i& there are !roble"s at that level o& the structure'

Question -8 *o you allo( the coke bed to ?soak? in .uench (ater a&ter being &illed' I& yes$ &or ho( long' Question -9 *o you have e.ui!"ent that allo(s the o!erators to o!en the head #to! or botto"% &ro" a re"ote location' Please describe it. Ho( you handle a cave in during de+ heading' Question -: Ho( do you kno( you have got a good drain and the dru" is e"!ty o& (ater' !rocedures to drain the dru" i& the inlet line or drain line !lugs' hat are your

Question -< Have you e2!erienced Dblo(outsE;Eblo(backsE during drilling' I& so$ ho( did you avoid this !roble"' Question -= *o you have !rovisions &or !rotecting the driller &ro" !otential Dblo(outsE' I& so$ (hat are those !rovisions' Question 1> Has anyone heard o& a co"bination drill bit that can be s(itched re"otely #(hile still in the dru"%$ and does anyone have any e2!erience using so"ething like this' Question 11 For those (ho (ent &ro" s!onge coke to shot coke !roduction$ (hat (ere the s!eci&ic changes "ade toC cranes$ crushers$ conveyor belts$ trans&er stations$ truck;rail;vessel loading e.ui!"ent$ drilling !rocedures;ti"e' hat are the sa&ety issues' Question 1) Ho( do re&iners control;"onitor the height o& dru" &oa" and coke levels' At (hat !oint in the dru" cycle do &oa"overs generally ha!!en' hat correlating !ara"eters e2ist #e.g. dru" te"!erature$ &eed source$ &eed .uality% to "itigate the &oa"overs' Question 1*escribe the a!!lications and the e&&ectiveness o& anti&oa"ers &or "itigating dru" &oa"overs$ and are "ore viscous anti&oa"ers advantageous' Question 11 Ho( do you "a2i"i,e heater run length (hile "aintaining e&&iciency' *o coker o!erators tend to run their heaters at higher than nor"al O) and less !reheat$ thereby sacri&icing energy e&&iciency &or !otential run length' Question 18 *oes anyone have any e2!erience (ith reva"!ing an e2isting coker &ractionator (ith high ca!acity to(er internals' Ho( "uch ca!acity (as gained #in unit through!ut and;or &ractionator

va!or;li.uid load%'

hat disadvantages (ere e2!erienced #e.g. li"ited turndo(n%'

Question 19 Are there any delayed cokers o!erating at recycle ratios less than 1.>8 #8F%' hat changes are needed to be "ade in order to achieve this' hat is the lo(est recycle ratio currently !ossible' ere the bene&its resulting &ro" these "odi&ications enough the o&&set the ca!ital invest"ent' A. Fluid Catalytic Cracking 1. Mechanical Reliability Question 1 hat are the o!erational li"its #velocity$ !ressure dro!$ a!!roach to sonic velocity% on &lue gas ori&ice cha"bers to avoid da"age due to vibrations' Can &lo( tubes be used to reduce this !roble"' G0RR05HAMPC It is been our e2!erience that vibration and associated noise and da"age co"es &ro" the &lue gas slide valve rather than the ori&ice cha"ber. 6hese t(o ite"s o& e.ui!"ent !rovide !ressure control to the regenerator by regulating a large &lo( o& &lue gas do(n to at"os!heric !ressure. 6o !rovide e&&ective control$ the slide valve usually needs to take about ->F o& the syste" !ressure dro!. Most o& our vibration da"age is associated (ith the re&ractory 7ust do(nstrea" o& the valve$ and it is generally a result o& taking too "uch !ressure dro! across the valve. 6o avoid this$ (e try to kee! the velocity across a given grid belo( .9 sonic$ although (e have seen designs as high as .:$ .:8 at one site. In !ractice$ this (ould "ean kee!ing the !ressure dro! across these !lates to about 8 to : !sig. e have never used &lo( tubes to sto! vibration or erosion. I& erosion is beco"ing an issue$ (hat (e (ould ty!ically do is drill "ore holes into the e2isting !lates$ or i& you reach the li"it o& the o!en area that you can have &or "echanical integrity on these !lates$ (e (ould add another !late and start &illing in the ones that (e !reviously drilled. e have certainly done that on units. e have seen that erosion resistant re&ractories are better held in &le2 "esh than he2 "esh in vibration environ"ents. 6he bars o& the cell that are longitudinal to the cylinder angle in(ard slightly to &or" a key &or the re&ractory. PROOP/C 3OPEs guidelines areC

4li"it to 98> &eet !er second to avoid e2cessive acoustic energy 4design &or one third o& the total delta P across the slide valve 4use &our to si2 ba&&les and -.8 !si "a2i"u " !ressure dro! !er ba&&le.

Our Pine Bend ori&ice cha"ber (as installed in 1==1. It is a relatively high !ressure unit$ so it has seven ba&&les. *uring the last run$ (e o!erated 18F to )8F above the original design basis$ averaging 9>> &oot !er second at the inlet$ and over =>> &oot !er second in the outlet ba&&le. 6his is range o& Mach >.- to >.18. 6urnaround ins!ection &ound "inor re&ractory da"age and so"e enlarge"ent o& the ba&&le holes. Our Cor!us Christi unit has a single 1<? I* ori&ice do(nstrea" o& a double disk slide valve. 6his

syste" is only used (hen the &lue gas e2!ander is do(n. 022onEs a!!roach is to use "ulti holed ori&ices in the !i!ing and !ossibly t(o &lue gas valves in series. e co"!ared the 022on design to an ori&ice cha"ber and &ound 022onEs a!!roach to be chea!er. 6heir design criteria are !ro!rietary. /6I50/C e have recently installed t(o ne( ori&ice cha"bers based on a Philli!s design. Both have been o!erating &or over a year vibration &ree. 6hey take about a total o& si2 !ound !ressure dro! across the"$ and (e target 18> &eet !er second &or our ori&ice velocity. e use .8? to 1? !late (ith sur&ace hardening to control erosion$ &ive to si2 !lates. 6he !lates are he"is!herical$ or truncated cones. 6hat adds so"e strength and li"its the !ossibility o& vibration$ in our o!inion. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C 6he !er&or"ance reliability o& Ori&ice Cha"bers is related to several !ara"eters includingC

4Catalyst concentration o& inco"ing &lue gas 4Krid s!acing 4Ori&ice velocity ty!ically bet(een 1;to 1;) o& sonic velocity 4Ori&ice dia"eter

A !ro!erly designed Ori&ice Cha"ber (ill not only i"!rove the reliability o& the &lue gas !ressure control valve#s%$ but can also act as an e&&ective silencer. LO/0PH IM/O5 #Barnes N Click$ Inc.%C

Another thing you have to look at (hen you are dealing (ith vibration in ori&ice cha"bers is the har"onic or natural &re.uencies in each one o& the cha"bers bet(een the !lates. Ori&ice cha"bers can resonate$ "uch like an organ !i!e. 6he natural har"onics are a &unction o& si,e$ velocity$ the sha!e o& the cha"ber$ and the s!acing bet(een the !lates. Flo( tubes can hel!$ because they can change the har"onic &re.uency inside the cha"ber. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering%C 6o go back to that ori&ice cha"ber$ I think Mr. Proo!s "eant to say t(o+ third o& the total !ressure dro! is o&ten taken across the ori&ice cha"ber versus one+ third. In regard to the use o& butter&ly valve$ the butter&ly valves are usually used (hen there is a !o(er recovery unit in the &lue gas syste". In this setu!$ "ost o& the &lue gas !ressure is taken across the e2!ander. 6here&ore$ the ori&ice cha"ber "ay be used (hen the e2!ander is out o& service. PROOP/C I intended to say one third o& the overall !ressure dro! across the slide valve$ (hich i"!lies t(o thirds across the ori&ice cha"ber. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

ith the e2cellent re&ractories that are available today$ I have to (onder i& having an ori&ice cha"ber is still as i"!ortance as it used to be. I have been associated (ith an FCC3 in the recent !ast that had a butter&ly valve in the &lue gas syste" (ith no ori&ice cha"ber (hatsoever. e (ent through t(o co"!lete three+ year cycles (ithout any erosion da"age to that butter&ly valve. It (as the by!ass valve &or the Flue Kas Po(er Recovery 3nit$ so the velocity through it (as

higher than "ost Flue Kas /lide Galves (ould see. Mest you think that the Po(er Recovery 3nit (as the great e.uali,er in this situation$ it (as o&& line "ost o& the ti"e. It only o!erated &or the &irst ten "onths in the &irst cycle and &or only si2 "onths during the second$ because o& severe erosion to the vanes due to !oor 6hird /tage /e!arator !er&or"ance. 6hat is another indication o& the severe service that this butter&ly valve (as being e2!osed to. 6here&ore$ I (onder i& it is ti"e &or a reality check. 6he o!erating environ"ent is not the sa"e as it (as t(enty years ago. Co"!etition is tough$ and everybody is trying to reduce costs. O!erating "argins are not (hat they used to be$ and cash &lo( is do(n. 5o( (hen the licensors s!eci&y an e2!ensive stainless steel ori&ice cha"ber$ I have to .uestion i& "aybe (e should looking at bee&ing u! the re&ractory lining on the valve instead. 0ven i& the valve does (ear so"e$ you never need a tight shuto&& in this !articular service any(ay. G0RR05HAMPC Can I get so"e clari&ication$ here' Are you saying that you (ant to get rid o& the ori&ice cha"ber co"!letely' Or are you talking about getting rid o& the &lo( tubes' LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

e had no ori&ice cha"ber at all. 6he butter&ly valve took all o& the !ressure dro!. PROOP/C hat !ressure unit (as that' LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

6he regenerator o!erated around )1 !sig. PROOP/C Ours is signi&icantly higher than that. I a" not sure I (ould (ant to take your route and have -8 !si across a valve. G0RR05HAMPC e (ould run at least 8>F higher than that on so"e o& our units. I agree (ith Mr. Proo!s. HRI/H5AC I 7ust (anted to add one .uick co""ent. e have a hal& a do,en FCC units in the syste". One has an ori&ice cha"ber$ one has an e2!ander train and butter&ly valves$ but all the others have &lue gas slide valves$ (hich (ork 7ust &ine in relatively lo(+ "oderate !ressure regenerators. Question ) hen should the *CC be res!onsible &or the control o& the air blo(er anti+ surge syste"$ and (hen is it reco""ended to utili,e a dedicated inde!endent controller' /6I50/C e do not use *C/ &or control o& the air blo(er surge controls. 6he *C/ does not !rovide a &ast enough scan rate to ade.uately do surge control. Our *C/ can scan do(n to a one second rate$ and you need a one .uarter second scan rate to do the surge control. /o (e 7ust do not do it. e do it (ith an inde!endent syste"O (e do not do it through the *C/. G0RR05HAMPC

I agree the scan rate is 7ust too slo( &or e&&ective anti+ surge control. It is i"!ortant$ ho(ever$ to understand the !hiloso!hy and the control logic in inde!endent anti+ surge controllers so that the o!erators are a(are o& the !otential set!oint changes that "ay trigger anti+ surge res!onse &ro" the inde!endent controller. Most o& these syste"s use a rate o& change to(ard surge in addition to a !ro2i"ity to surge !ara"eters$ and these can be &ooled into a &alse res!onse. 5o($ having said that$ so"e o& the other &eatures o& these tri!le C ty!e controllers can sa&ely be used as in!uts into the "ulti+ variable constraint !ushes. For e2a"!le$ (e have used the controllerEs calculation o& "ini"u " deviation &ro" surge as a control variable in our *MCs$ and also$ the load sharing &acilities on units that have "ulti!le air blo(ers are very e&&ective. /o$ I guess I a" a big su!!orter o& inde!endent anti+ surge controllers. LACOBC In "y o!inion and "any others in the industry$ a dedicated controller should be used &or the anti+ surge syste" at all ti"es. 6he "a7ority o& the current *C/ designs have a &all back scan rate o& 1 scans !er second. Certain *C/ !oints can be con&igured to allo( u! to 1> scans !er second. Current literature indicate that a surge cycle can occur u! to )8 ti"es !er second. 6his (ould necessitate a scan rate o& 1> "illiseconds. *edicated anti+ surge syste"s in use today$ such as those !rovided by Co"!ressor Controls Cor!oration #CCC%$ !rovide &or a nor"al scan rate o& 1> "illiseconds (ith sa"!ling rates do(n to 8 "illiseconds. Additionally$ the dedicated syste" !rovides use o& a !atented and !roved control algorith ". 6he *C/ antisurge control usually only "akes use o& a singular !oint on the vendor su!!lied theoretical surge line. Aside &ro" !roviding a "ore ti"ely res!onse on the a!!roach to surge$ the dedicated antisurge syste"s$ by de&inition$ !rovide &or greater reliability against a &ailure. Kranted there is still the !ossibility o& having a &ailure in the control "odule$ but (ith the "odule serving one &unction$ (hereas the *C/ serves "any$ the chance o& an error occurring is decreased. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

I have to (onder again$ i& it is ti"e &or a reality check on !utting an anti+ surge on a "ain air blo(er. 5or"ally$ you !ut an anti+ surge on a co"!ressor that has the !ossibility o& varying the suction !ressure or having a "olecular (eight change that could reduce the head o& the "achine to the !oint that (ould !ut it in a surge condition. Ho(ever$ ever since I have been around$ the !ressure and "olecular (eight o& the at"os!here have been !retty steady. 6here&ore$ I have to .uestion (hy (e have an anti+ surge syste" on the "ain air blo(er$ (hich has the lu2ury o& these very steady suction conditions$ !articularly (hen it is a ne( installation. Perha!s (hen you !ut so"e sort o& a co"!licated &ilter syste" on the suction side$ you "ight need an anti+ surge syste". But other(ise$ every other "ain air blo(er I kno( o& (orks on the &ar end o& the curve$ (hich is a long (ay a(ay &ro" their surge line. Hee!ing the" there during start+ u!s is 7ust a "atter o& o!erator training and a !ro!erly develo!ed start u! !rocedure. G0RR05HAMPC I (ill give you an e2a"!le. One o& the re&ineries I have (orked at runs to a su!er&icial velocity li"itation. In order to increase the "ass &lo( o& air and hence coke burn ca!acity (ithout resorting to$ &or e2a"!le$ o2ygen enrich"ent$ one has to increase the !ressure o& the regenerator. One unit I a" a(are o& o!erated under this scenario (ith a single+ stage air blo(er$ (hich had a very &lat surge curve. 5o($ during (inter "onths the increased density o& the air "eant that the !ressure at (hich the blo(er surged increased$ and this allo(ed a reasonable "argin bet(een the o!erating !ressure and surge$ "aybe <F a(ay &ro" the surge curve. Ho(ever$ as the a"bient te"!erature increased and given the re.uire"ent to "aintain "a2i"u " regen o!erating !ressure$ (e (ould "ove closer and closer to surge. /o$ during the su""er "onths or during the heat o& the day$ (e (ould &ind the blo(er o!erating closer and

closer to surge$ to the !oint (here the air ca!acity to the unit (as no longer li"ited to "a2i"u " regen !ressure but "ini"u " a!!roach to surge on the blo(er. Rather than o!erating 1>F a(ay &ro" surge$ (hich is a ty!ical "argin &or nor"al !rotection$ CCC controllers allo(ed us to o!erate -F a(ay &ro" surge. PROOP/C A lot o& !eo!le have o!erated FCC3s near or at surge in an u!set + &or instance$ i& you get catalyst into the air line. At steady state$ I (ould !robably agree (ith you$ but I think you "ight (ant anti+ surge &or u!sets. /CO66 A5*0R/O5 #Hoch Petroleu"%C One co""ent on the CCC controllers. e have a cou!le o& instances (here (e have seen that controller catch an a2ial blo(er surge (ithin one cycle$ and there is no (ay that a straight PI* loo! on a *C/ syste" can do that. A surge event on an a2ial is "uch "ore serious than a surge event on a centri&ugal. 6here is a real issue (ith da"age to an a2ial blo(er$ i& you let it surge. /o$ "ini"i,ing the surge cycle is real i"!ortant on the a2ial. I have a .uestion &or the !anel and anybody in the audience. Has anyone ever seen on their a2ial blo(ers (here the actual surge line is signi&icantly di&&erent than that !redicted by the su!!lier o& the blo(er' G0RR05HAMPC Ieah$ (e actually have seen that. 6he (ay (e identi&ied this (as actually surge testing &or the installation o& these CCC controllers. 6hey have a very good syste"$ recording in!uts in the order o& "illiseconds. 6he instant it detects surge the vent valve is tri!!ed (ide o!en P you do not even hear a noise co"ing out o& the "achines. 6he blo(er in .uestion had both inlet and discharge guide vanes and the actual surge curve (as substantially di&&erent to that (hat (as !erceived. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

e have heard !eo!le say that their anti+ surge syste"s can detect and correct a surge condition (ithin a cycle$ and that their cycles are in "illiseconds. I assu"e that is &or the electronic !ortion o& their syste"s not the !neu"atic !ortion. I have to (onder$ can the control valve on the snort to at"os!here react &ast enough even$ (hen you are catching it that &ast' 6here is certainly a s"all a"ount o& dead ti"e in !neu"atic controllers. 6hat is !retty .uick &or a syste" that de!ends on a !neu"atic !ressure instru"ent to detect a !ressure change$ and then &or an instru"ent air driven control valve to "ake an ad7ust"ent. 0ven (ith su!er &ast electronics in bet(een. Question hat on+ strea" "ethods have been sa&ely and e&&ectively used to re!air leaks on the reactor+ regenerator e.ui!"ent to "aintain unit o!erations until the !lanned turnaround' HRI/H5AC On on+ strea" "ethods &or re!airing leaks$ un&ortunately$ (e have had e2tensive e2!erience. I can s!eak about this (ith so"e hu"or$ because it is in the !ast tense. e have reva"!ed all our units. e have ne($ "odern reactors and ho!e&ully$ (ill never have to ever use that e2!erience again. But (e did do a lot o& this$ and I (anted to share so"e details (ith you. In "ost o& these cases$ the re!airs have involved (elding a !i!e stub (ith a valve onto the hole or the crack. 3sually$ the valve is ke!t o!en during the (elding !rocess to kee! it &ro" !ressuring u!. And then once the (elding is done$ the valve is closed. /o"eti"es$ the area is too large &or a si"!le !i!e stub$ and then (e !re&abricate a bo2 (ith vents on it.

Prior to (elding$ (e check the "etal thickness in the area (here the (eld can be "ade. I& the "etal is not &ull thickness$ (e usually use a !atch large enough to reach the &ull thickness o& the "etal. I& our "easure"ents indicate that erosion is an issue at the leak location$ (e o&ten line the inside o& the !re&abricated !atch (ith sort o& a re&ractory. Indications o& erosion (ould also cause us to "ake the !atch larger. On so"e occasions$ (e have had to go back and enlarge the si,e o& the !atch$ as the erosion !rogressed. In "ost cases$ this ty!e o& a !atch could be "ade on the regenerator (hile the unit is in &ull o!eration. On the reactor side$ though$ (here the esca!ing va!or "ay be co"bustible$ (e have &ound it necessary to take &eed out$ "ost o&ten$ and introduce large .uantities o& stea"$ so that the esca!ing va!or is !ri"arily stea". In cases (here the hole beco"es very large and it is not sa&e to (ork$ &eed is taken out and (e have to de!ressure the syste"$ and to decrease the leakage rate to a sa&e (orking level. /uch leaks$ as "ost !eo!le (ho o!erate FCCs kno($ can gro( very ra!idly. O&tenti"es$ they have gro(n so ra!idly that (e 7ust do not have the ti"e to develo! the !atches$ resulting in a shutdo(n at that !oint. /6I50/C It is a"a,ing ho( si"ilar the !rocedures are. e also use bo2es P thank&ully$ not .uite as o&ten as it sounds like you (ere P on leaks. I& (e catch it as a hots!ot be&ore it beco"es a leak$ (e (ill !ut a stea" hose on it$ and that can o&ten kee! it &ro" beco"ing a leak. e also take thickness readings be&ore (e install. 6he other thing that (e do that I did not hear (as$ on the &irst (eld !ass on the bo2$ (e (ill use a s"all dia"eter rod and the lo(est heat !ossible to "ake the &irst !ass$ 7ust to avoid burning through. But$ o& course$ (e al(ays (ant to "ake sure (e have enough "etal to (eld to be&ore (e start. G0RR05HAMPC 6he only thing I (ould like to add is the bo2$ basically$ beco"es a !ressure boundary o& the syste". 6he end !late edges o& the bo2 re.uire engineering attention. e have had success (ith the &lo( o& air or stea" into the bo2 venting to at"os!here. 6his kee!s the bo2 and the a&&ected area cool$ "ini"i,ing e2!ansion o& the hots!ots. ). /a&ety and 0nviron"ental Question 1 hat is the industry e2!erience (ith the use o& real ti"e dyna"ic si"ulators &or FCC3' 4 5e( unit startu! training. 4 6raining on e2isting units. as the cost o& the si"ulator 7usti&ied in both cases' A&ter initial training$ are the si"ulators still being utili,ed' LACOBC I a" &a"iliar (ith t(o ne( RCC3 startu!s that utili,ed real ti"e dyna"ic si"ulators to train the board o!erators !rior to bringing the unit online. In one o& these &acilities the RCC3 and the Alky (ere si"ulated. 6he initial startu! cre( only had one e2!erienced FCC o!erator but he (as starting the Alky unit (hen the RCC3 (as brought on line. 6he initial startu! and several subse.uent startu! (ere acco"!lished very success&ully. 6he other &acility had several e2!erienced FCC o!erators but they (ere also trained using the dyna"ic si"ulator (ith great success. Both &acilities si"ulators are being used today to train ne( o!erators and to recerti&y e2isting

o!erators !er the O/HA guidelines. It a!!ears e&&ective in !re!aring the board !ersons to res!ond a!!ro!riately to u!sets$ unit shut do(ns and unit restarts. 6he cost o& the si"ulator (ith the &acility I a" "ost &a"iliar (ith (as (ell (orth it. HRI/H5AC e develo!ed a generic dyna"ic si"ulator "any years ago$ and then (e custo"i,ed these si"ulators &or each o& the units that (e have$ !articularly as (e (ent through the "a7or reva"!s. Most o& our o!erators gre( u! on or trained on Model IG units$ (hich are !ressure balanced units. hile the rest o& the industry is &a"iliar (ith slide valves$ that (as so"ething relatively ne( to our o!erators until a &e( years ago. /o you can i"agine that it is a signi&icant change in ter"s o& the ty!e o& unit they (ere o!erating. e &elt it (as absolutely vital during o!erator training to take the" through a side valve o!eration on a unit (ith a si"ulator. In each instance$ that si"ulator !aid o&& e2tre"ely (ell in ter"s o& a s"ooth$ sa&e startu!. I (ould also add that the use o& the si"ulator gains "uch better acce!tance the "ore the screens &or the si"ulator look like those on the actual unit. I& you end u! having a si"ulator that sits on a PC in a di&&erent location$ and the gra!hics there do not look anything like the Honey(ell screen$ then you lose .uite a bit in ter"s o& the o!erator acce!tance. In ter"s o& using it &or on+ going training$ that is our intention. But (ith all good intentions$ ho( (ell (e !ut it into !ractice is a di&&erent issue. Part o& the !roble"$ is that that si"ulator needs to be t(eaked a little bit$ because the actual unit$ no( that it is u! and running$ a!!ears slightly di&&erent &ro" the "odel. e have al(ays &ound the ti"e to &ollo( throughO ho!e&ully$ (e (ill start doing that soon. PARHC e develo!ed a real ti"e dyna"ic si"ulator &or ne( FCC unit startu! training. Its cost (as about Q1>>$>>> e2cluding our o(n "an!o(er cost. e got accusto"ed to the FCC !rocess by using the training si"ulator. It gave us con&idence and contributed to success&ul FCC startu!. 5o( it is still being utili,ed as a training si"ulator &or ne( o!erators and engineers. /6I50/C I took a little broader vie( o& this other than 7ust FCC si"ulators. e do have one custo" real+ ti"e dyna"ic si"ulator in the !lant. It (as built &or us &or our "ethyl "erca!tan unit. e used that as a tool to train o!erators !rior to the start o& this brand ne( unit. 6hey also had to certi&y on the trainer$ as (ell. e are develo!ing a re&resher training and scenarios in that "odel$ as (ell. 6he hassle o& having a custo" si"ulator is$ (henever you do "ake changes to your !lant$ you have to go "ake changes to the si"ulator to "ake it re!resent the !lant. /o$ (e like (hat (e have gotten &ro" that$ and have recently bought ten generic "odels$ one o& (hich is a FCC "odel real ti"e si"ulators. 6he intention there is not to kee! these u! to date as an e2act re!resentation o& the !lant. e give o!erators t(o (eeks o& training on the "odel$ and then (hen they are getting ready to certi&y on the unit$ they have to go through a testing scenario$ i.e.$ have to res!ond to given scenarios in a !redeter"ined a"ount o& ti"e. hat (e are trying to test &or there is your ability to think$ troubleshoot$ and res!ond &ast enough. e (ill also use the sa"e tool &or our re&resher training &or our current board o!erators. G0RR05HAMPC I a" a big &an o& these si"ulators$ &or all the good reasons that the !revious !anelists have "entioned. At one o& our sites$ (e !rogra" "ed one ourselves into a Fo2boro IA syste". It (as

built about t(o years ago$ and it is being used$ usually on a daily basis even today$ certainly several ti"es a (eek. 6he cost o& the Fo2boro hard(are (as Q1>>$>>>$ and the sta&& "an+ hours to build the !rogra"$ about a "an year. 6here is no .uestion this si"ulator has !aid &or itsel& "any ti"es. Certainly$ there have been o!erators !ublicly ackno(ledge that the use o& these si"ulators has averted "a7or shutdo(ns on the unit. Installation at another BP A"oco site (as !ro"!ted by a large !ro!ortion o& e2!erienced sta&& retiring. 6his (as seen as the "ost e&&ective (ay to ca!ture their kno(ledge and !ass it on. /till another re&inery believed that the installation o& an e&&ective si"ulator (as a "a7or &actor that allo(ed the" to reduce sta&&ing levels. Re,a /adeghbeigi #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C *ue to the uni.ue characteristics o& each cat cracker o!eration$ and o&ten the inability to ade.uately ?"odel? "any !ara"eters that a&&ect its !er&or"ance$ the *yna"ic /i"ulators have not !roven to be a cost+ e&&ective "eans o& training e2isting and ne( e"!loyees long+ ter". An e&&ective alternate a!!roach is a !eriodic$ custo"i,ed$ o!erator+ training !rogra" &ocusing on !articular unit o!erations$ ob7ectives$ and li"itations. 6he ?trick? is to !resent this "aterial in a language that is not ?above? or ?belo(? the individualRs level o& kno(ledge. P060R A5*R0 / #Consultant%C

A state"ent has been "ade in the Ans(er Book by RM/ that dyna"ic si"ulators have not been !roven to be a cost+ e&&ective "eans o& training e2isting or ne( e"!loyees. I totally disagree (ith that. My background (ith FCC units is e2tensive and (e also use si"ulators. I (as !rinci!ally involved (ith the installation o& a ne( unit a si"ulator. 6his re&inery could not s!ell cat cracking$ but trained on the si"ulator #(hile the unit (as being built% &or a!!ro2i"ately &our "onths. hen that unit ca"e on line$ the licensorEs chie& o!erator and I (ere there. I do not kno( i& you have been close to startu!s$ reversals$ shutdo(ns$ scre(+ u!s$ the horns$ alar"s$ noises and everything else. Fro" the si"ulator to the real unit$ the o!erators (ere online and on s!ec in less than &ive hoursO and I did not hear one alar". And i& you tell "e that si"ulators do not !ay &or the"selvesO you have not !assed FCC3+1>1. Mater$ I (rote a re!ort saying that this initial startu! (as very boring. hen you can say that about a FCC3$ that should tell you everything you (ant to kno($ i& you kno( anything about FCC3s. Question 8 3nder !ro!osed MAC6 II rules$ re&iners (ith scrubbers (ill be allo(ed to in&er /O2 re"oval e&&iciency by "onitoring o!erating !ara"eters. hat variables can be used to "onitor /O2 re"oval and do they vary de!ending on the ty!e o& scrubber being used' For units that (ill not have scrubbers$ (hat ty!e o& /O2 analy,er is being used' *AR*05C 6he FCC at MCR does have an 022on designed &lue gas scrubber to scrub the va!ors co"ing o&& the regenerator. e actually do have an /O) continuous e"ission "onitor on there. 6he !ara"eters that you can "onitor in lieu o& having a C0M on your unit are the average daily !ressure dro!s across each scrubber$ the average daily gas rate to each scrubber$ the average daily total scrubbing (ater or scrubbing li.uid rate to each scrubber. As &ar as calibration goes$ you have to do the !ressure dro! and &lo( rate "onitors .uarterly$ and you "ust calculate an average li.uid to gas ratio on a daily basis and record that in your records. Kenerally$ the ty!e o& !ara"eters you have to "onitor (ill not vary too "uch$ de!ending on (hat ty!e o& scrubber you are using.

PARHC Our RCC unit has a !retreater$ and there&ore /O2 is relatively lo(. 6here&ore$ (e use a /O2 additive instead o& a scrubber syste". e are using Hunts"an N Bro(n /O2 analy,er$ 3RA/1). 6his is 5*IRA ty!e. 6his "eans 5on+ *is!ersive In&ra Red Analysis. 6his (orks (ell. /cott Anderson #Hoch Petroleu" Krou!%C 6he MAC6 II rules are directed to(ard control o& Ha,ardous Air Pollutants #HAP%. 6hree !rocess vents are targetedC FCC regenerator &lue gas$ re&or"er regeneration !urge gas and sul&ur !lant tail gas. For FCCRs these include both organic and inorganic s!ecies. 6he organics are co"!ounds such as ben,ene$ toluene$ 2ylene$ he2ane$ !henol$ and &or"aldehyde. Inorganics are ty!ically "etals or "etal co"!ounds$ including nickel$ cad"iu"$ chro"iu "$ and "ercury. 6here is no discussion in the MAC6 II !ro!osed rule"aking regarding /O2 even (ith res!ect to the /R3 vent. As discussed in the !ro!osed rule"aking$ 0PA has &ocused on controlling !articulate "atter #PM% and Carbon Mono2ide &ro" the FCC regenerator as a "eans o& controlling the above !ollutants. 6he PM standard indirectly controls inorganics on the catalyst &ines. Organics are controlled by li"iting CO$ assu"ing that i& CO is co"busted$ the organics (ill also be destroyed. 3nits (hich hydrotreat the &eed can "eet an alternative standard &or nickel e"issions. 6he !ro!osed MAC6 II standards are the sa"e as the 5e( /ource Per&or"ance /tandard #5/P/% + 1kg PM !er 1>>> kg o& coke burn$ and 8>> !!" CO #dry%. 6he PM standard is based on de"onstrated !er&or"ance o& e2isting electrostatic !reci!itators and et Flue Kas /crubbers. Initial co"!liance is to be deter"ined through stack testing. For scrubber syste"s one (ill be re.uired to "onitor venturi dP and gas to li.uid ratio. 6here is no discussion o& di&&erent designs o& (et scrubbers$ i.e. Belco vs. 022on Research N 0ngineering. Hoch o!erates t(o FCCRs (ith (et scrubbers that are sub7ect to 5/P/ standards. 6hese units have continuos e"issions "onitors #C0M/% to de"onstrate co"!liance (ith the 5/P/ /O) standards. 6hey are A!!lied Auto"ation;Hart "an RA*IO/ II analy,ers. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

Regarding the /O2 analy,er$ one thing I (ould caution about is the !rogra" "ing o& it$ !articularly the calculation &or kilogra"s /O2 !er 1>>> bbls. Make sure that all your !ara"eters are &or the sa"e ti"e &ra"e. 6he unit I (as recently involved (ith used the current s!ot nu"ber &or the /O2 reading$ but divided that by the )1+ hour average &or the &eed rate. 6here&ore$ on start u!s (e (ould &re.uently be in e2ceedence i""ediately a&ter the introduction o& &eed. 6he /O2 (ould .uickly reach its nor"al level$ and the !rogra" (ould divide that by a &eed rate o& ,ero or near ,ero. e (ould then have to (rite a letter to the Cali&ornia Air Quality Manage"ent *istrict to e2!lain that (e really (ere not in e2ceedence$ and that the !rogra" (as 7ust dividing by ,ero again. Another thing (e discovered (as that during a !o(er &ailure the heater on the /O2 analy,er (ould shut do(n$ and (ould not reenergi,e by itsel& (hen the !o(er (as restored. 6he "oisture in the &lue gas (ould contribute to a very high /O2 nu"ber until the sa"!le conditioning syste" (as hot again. 6hat (ould indicate an e2ceedence even (hen the average &eed rate (as still reasonably high des!ite the &act that the FCC (as do(n. /o (e learned to get an analy,er technician out to get that heater started again i""ediately rather than (ait &or the start u! to avoid that tra!. MA R05C0 MACILA5 #3OP MMC%C 6he ty!ical /O2 analy,er &or the regenerator that (e s!eci&y is the ultraviolet absor!tion ty!e$ dual detection range$ usually > + 8>>$ > + :8> !!". 6he analy,er is located on the stack$ so the !rocess strea" is cooled and contains the "ini"u " catalyst &ines. /a"!le conditioning is an

i"!ortant !art o& the analy,er$ because o& the !otential &or condensation$ corrosion and &ines !lugging. LACOBC One &acility has a Belco (et gas scrubber on a FCC3. 6he re&iner "easures the !H o& the caustic strea" and its circulation rate. As long as both o& these !ara"eters are "et it is in&ered that the /O2 re"oval "eet the !er"it re.uire"ents. 5aturally$ the syste" (as tested to validate these conditions. Another &acility has an 022on (et gas scrubber and at this &acility the /o2 is "easured in and out o& the scrubber. Question 9 Ho( does o2ygen enriching o& the FCC3 regenerator air strea" i"!act PM$ CO$ and 5O2 e"issions' KA660C O2ygen enrich"ent has beco"e a very co""on "eans o& increasing the ca!acity o& FCC o!erations that have run u! against air blo(er li"itations. 6here have been several recent !a!ers by BOC and others discussing the i"!act o& enrich"ent on e"issions$ and (e have also done .uite a bit o& e2!eri"ental (ork in our laboratories$ (hich I (ill su""ari,e. Basically$ enrich"ent increases the local o2idi,ing conditions in certain !arts o& the regenerator$ (hich has a direct i"!act on coke burn and on the /O2$ PM$ CO and 5O2 e"issions. /O2 and PM are the easiest to address &irst. 0nrich"ent by itsel& (ill not "aterially a&&ect the total /O2 !er unit a"ount o& coke burned$ but the increased o2idi,ing environ"ent directionally increases the conversion o& /O) into /O-$ (hich can be re"oved "ore e&&ectively by /O2 reduction additives. /o$ in o!erations that are using *0/OST$ enrich"ent ty!ically (ill decrease /O2 e"issions. In the absence o& a /O2 reduction additive$ the increased /O- e"issions can cause an observed increase in !articulate e"issions. *e!ending on the te"!erature (here the !articulate "easure"ent is taken$ the incre"ental /O- can cause the &or"ation o& a sul&ate aerosol$ (hich (ould be included in the "easured total !articulate "atter. 0nrich"ent should not a&&ect the attrition characteristics o& the catalyst$ so incre"ental catalyst !articulates should not increase. 6he e&&ect o& enrich"ent on CO and 5OS e"issions is "ore co"!licated$ de!ending "ore on the details o& the regenerator o!eration #&ull vs. !artial burn$ cocurrent vs. countercurrent catalyst+ air &lo($ etc.%. In general$ the higher o2ygen !artial !ressure in the botto" o& the regenerator bed increases the CO to CO) reaction$ and this (ill result in so"e CO e"ission and a&terburn reduction. 0ven i& the coke on regenerated catalyst decreases as a result o& the enrich"ent$ (e generally e2!ect an increase in the CO);CO ratio o& the &lue gas (ith an associated increase in regenerator bed te"!erature. 6he enhanced o2idi,ing environ"ent and higher te"!erature in the regenerator can then also increase 5O2 &or"ation$ as "ore nitrogen inter"ediates$ such as a""onia and HC5$ are o2idi,ed. Also$ i& the CRC decreases$ 5O2 e"issions (ill increase &urther as "ore coke+ bound nitrogen is released. Further$ this de!leted coke on catalyst and lo(er CO level in the regenerator re"oves so"e o& the reducing agents that are usually available to convert so"e o& the 5O2 back into ele"ental nitrogen be&ore it leaves the regenerator. 6his (ill &urther increase the 5O2 e"issions. 6he situation in !artial burn is a lot "ore co"!licated$ and really de!ends a lot "ore on the e2act unit design$ but these general trends are still valid.

In su""ary$ this is all 7ust a long+ (inded (ay o& saying that (e ty!ically e2!ect to see directional increases in 5O2 and PM$ and decreases in /O2 and CO as a result o& o2ygen enrich"ent$ but the actual changes are going to de!end on the actual regenerator o!eration. MAIOC e (ould concur (ith "ost o& (hat Mr. Katte said. One o& the things he ski!!ed over or did not e"!hasi,e (as the e&&ect o& reduced s!ace velocity$ (hich occurs as a result o& o2ygen enrich"ent. 6hat could lessen dense bed elutriation$ thereby lo(ering "ass &lu2 in the cyclone inlets. 6his (ill result in a signi&icant reduction in losses &or those units hitting trans!ort disengaging height constraints. Also$ reduced s!ace velocity (ill result in less !ressure dro! across the cyclones$ reducing catalyst levels in the secondary cyclone di!legs. /o i& you have a unit (hich is sensitive to high catalyst levels in the di!legs$ then you "ay see so"e reduction in catalyst losses &ro" o2ygen enrich"ent. Finally$ i& you have very high cyclone velocities$ a reduction in s!ace velocity &ro" o2ygen enrich"ent could hel! both in ter"s o& reduced catalyst attrition and reduced da"age to the cyclone abrasion lining. G0RR05HAMPC 6he only thing I (ould add is that i& you are considering using o2ygen enrich"ent in the regenerator$ it "ight be o!ening regulatory !er"it .uestions that (ill need to be addressed$ such as hot (ork !er"itting issues. 3"a /hanker #Indian Institute o& Petroleu"%C O2ygen enrich"ent o& the air strea" generally increases the e"issions o& PM N 5O2 &ro" FCC regenerators. Ho(ever$ the o2idation o& CO to CO) is increased resulting in reduced e"ission o& CO &ro" regenerators. 6he ob7ective o& co"!lete o2idation o& CO includeC #1% the heat balance o& the FCC unit$ #)% control o& regenerator a&ter burn and #-% environ"ental considerations. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C I a" so"e(hat disa!!ointed at hearing those ans(ers. Re&iners o&ten use o2ygen enrich"ent (hen the unit is air blo(er li"ited and econo"ics 7usti&y increasing &eed rate and;or conversion. 6here&ore$ the use o& o2ygen enrich"ent is o&ten associated (ith increase in the regenerator su!er&icial velocity and a slightly higher regenerator bed te"!erature. Conse.uently$ in "ost cases$ the catalyst entrain"ent to the regenerator cyclone is increased (hich directionally increases catalyst loss. G0RR05HAMPC 6hat is not al(ays true. 6y!ically the sites that (e look at using o2ygen enrich"ent$ (e (ill also add a catalyst cooler to take into account the e&&ect o& increased regenerator te"!erature. Catalyst losses in this &or" o& o!eration #i.e. constant regenerator te"!erature% (ill decrease. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C Adding a catalyst cooler is a di&&erent issue. Catalyst cooler reduces the regenerator dense bed te"!erature$ (hich directionally reduces the catalyst entrain"ent rate to the cyclones. Ho(ever$ the incre"ental increase in the su!er&icial velocity is o&ten "ore than the reduced bed te"!erature. G0RR05HAMPC

Iour !oint (ithout a catalyst cooler is valid. HRI/H5AC 6here is another reason (hy that is not .uite true. e have a unit (here the &eed rate had been increased so "uch that (e (ere renting air blo(ers + basically$ su!!le"enting blo(ers+ and (e (ere 1 &eet a second in su!er&icial velocity and signi&icantly a&&ecting cyclone li&e. /o there is a case (here (e sto!!ed using those rented au2iliary blo(ers$ !ut in o2ygen enrich"ent and signi&icantly reduced the velocity again. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C It is true that i& a re&iner is using !ortable air blo(ers to su!!le"ent the "ain air blo(er$ changing that to o2ygen enrich"ent reduces the !articulate e"ission. Ho(ever$ econo"ics evaluation "ay continue to &avor the use o& !ortable air blo(ers. G0RR05HAMPC 6here is also a "olecular (eight e&&ect. Iou are going to increase "olecular (eight o& the &lue gas because you have increased the !ercentage o& CO) and that needs to be taken into account in that analysis. RAI FM06CH0R #Ak,o 5obel%C Most FCC units initiate o2ygen enrich"ent to increase charge rate. A s!ecial case e2ists in (hich the re&iner is o!erating (ith e2cessive regenerator s!ace velocities$ usually over 1 &t;sec. In this case o2ygen enrich"ent is used to lo(er s!ace velocity by reducing the actual volu"e o& air su!!lied to the regenerator. In this s!eci&ic case$ entrain"ent to the cyclones (ill be reduced (hich (ill result in a reduction o& !articulate e"issions out o& the unit. I agree (ith "ost o& the co""ents that Mr. /adeghbeigi "ade regarding the &act that (hen you are adding o2ygen ty!ically "ost !eo!le are doing it to !ut "ore barrels in the unit$ and in that case you (ould e2!ect "ore entrain"ent into the cyclones. 6his o!tion has the added bene&it o& reducing the rate o& erosion in the cyclones. RAKH3 M05O5 #BOC%C In ter"s o& !articulate "atter and directly related to entrain"ent$ (hich are both related to velocities$ they are easier to control in an o2ygen rich regenerator. Also there is so"e additional trend to run a slightly higher regenerator !ressure so you can reduce entrain"ent to the cyclones$ (hich again reduces (ear and carryover$ etc. /o in ter"s o& !articulates &or a (ell designed regenerator o!eration$ there is ho!e to reduce it i& one runs the regenerator s"artly. In ter"s o& 5O2 the ans(ers is very co"!le2 and there are so"e !a!ers (hich described this in ter"s o& e&&ects &or various ty!es o& 5O2 che"istry in ter"s o& !artial co"bustion$ co"!lete co"bustion$ etc. e !ut so"e in&or"ation in the Oil and Kas Lournal in 1==9$ and it is not a clear ans(er. It de!ends on the ty!e o& o!eration. For "any ty!es o& o!eration it reduces 5O2$ but i& you use o2ygen enrich"ent to run "ore resid so increase your basic nitrogen and aro"atic nitrogen on the coke$ naturally it (ill increase 5O2. -. Regeneration Question : Height o& the dense bed and catalyst distribution in the regenerator have i"!ortant i"!act on the regeneration e&&iciency and cyclone loadings. *escribe reliable "ethods &or "easuring the bed height$ catalyst distribution and;or cyclone loadings.

PROOP/C *ense bed height can be "easured (ith ga""a scanning #Figure II+1%. A single scan$ or !re&erably "ulti!le scans$ using various orientations can deter"ine the dense catalyst bed height at various .uadrants in a regenerator. O&tenti"es di&&erent levels are &ound due to air "aldistribution or locali,ed e&&ects o& the s!ent catalyst stand!i!e entrance. Catalyst distribution in the dense bed and in the regenerator cyclones can be deter"ined by in7ecting a radioactive tracer into the s!ent catalyst stand!i!e. Radiation detectors are !laced at strategic locations at the to! o& the dense bed and cyclone inlets and outlets to "onitor the catalyst distribution. *e!ending on the arrange"ent o& the cyclones it is !ossible to use a ga""a scan to deter"ine the catalyst loading in the cyclones. KA660C I guess "y ans(er is &airly standard. A single gauge !ressure survey is usually ade.uate to con&ir" the regenerator level. Readings &ro" di&&erential !ressure instru"ents are usually reasonably reliable i& they are checked and calibrated on a regular basis. One other ite" that needs to be taken into account (hen using !ressure surveys is the e&&ect o& changes in catalyst !article density$ (hich can be a !articular issue a&ter a catalyst grade change. e have seen cases (here catalyst losses have increased &ollo(ing a catalyst change$ not due to attrition issues$ but rather due to &ailure to take catalyst !article density di&&erences into account in bed height "easure"ents$ leading to higher or lo(er than calculated bed levels. 6he actual location and integrity o& !ressure ta!s should be checked (henever !ossible$ as this can a&&ect the "easure"ents. In general$ in order to "ini"i,e catalyst entrain"ent$ the bed level should be such that the 6*H #6rans!ort *isengaging Height% is co"&ortably belo( the !ri"ary cyclone inlet horns. LACOBC Measure"ent o& the catalyst bed height is generally done (ith a di&&erential !ressure trans"itter. 6he trans"itter range (ill usually be ad7usted such that a dense bed level variation o& at least 1.8 "eters can be (ithstood. 6he i"!ortant internal structure di"ensions$ such as di!leg coverage or a!!roach to &la!!er valves on the di!legs$ (ill have been !reviously "easured and the !ercent o& trans"itter range given to the o!erator as critical level values. Proble"s$ including catalyst carry over$ have been e2!erienced (ith 7ust relying on the di&&erential !ressure trans"itter &or the dense bed level. 6his is due to the &act that the initial calculations on !ertinent internals locations is usually done at the design catalyst density o& the vessels as s!eci&ied by the licensor. 6o alleviate the di&&erences in density o& the catalyst bed$ and there&or the erroneous level indications$ (hich "ight occur at high regenerator su!er&icial velocities$ so"e re&iners have o!ted to install a density co"!ensation into the dense bed. 6he density co"!ensation also consists o& a di&&erential !ressure trans"itter but (ith both ta!s located in the dense bed. 6he !ressure reading is then directly translated to a density. 6his density is$ in turn$ used in the calculation &or the bed height &ro" the di&&erential !ressure "easured on the level instru"ent. It is a good idea ho(ever$ to truncate the acce!table values o& the density as "easured on the density indication. I& the density o& the catalyst bed varies "ore than ->+ 1>F on either side o& the design value$ the "easured density signal being sent to the level indication should revert back to the design density as a &aulty density "easure"ent could lead to an incorrect level indication. Cyclone loading in the regenerator has also e&&ectively been "easured by a di&&erential !ressure indication taken across the cyclones (ith one !ressure ta! in the dilute !hase #usually at the to! o& the regenerator% and one in the !lenu" cha"ber. 6his !ressure is a direct indication o& ho( "uch dro! there is &ro" the inlet horn to the vent tube into the !lenu". As the a"ount o& catalyst in the cyclone inlet increases so (ill the di&&erential !ressure. Although this is not a .uantitative "easure"ent$ it is still a good indication. Catalyst distribution in the regenerator is directly related to the &lo( characteristics o& the air

entering and e2iting the regenerator. A use&ul tool in deter"ining any distribution !roble"s occurring is a si"!le three di"ensional *C/ sche"atic o& all the te"!erature indicators in and on the regenerator. I& the !lace"ent o& the indicators is accurately re!resented$ te"!erature !ro&iles can be used deter"ine channeling through the regenerator$ and thus the catalyst distribution. HRI/H5AC Pressure "easure"ent is a !ri"ary indicator$ and (e also do (hat Mr. Lacob 7ust "entioned. do "easure the bed density o& the ta!s inside the bed$ and &or both o& these ta!s (e have air !urged !ressure ta!s. Also$ occasionally (e "ight use ga""a scans also to cross check our results. I& (e have signi&icant issues on catalyst and air distribution$ (e have had very good luck going to cold "odels and si"ulating the con&iguration and detecting (hat the !roble" "ight be. MAIOC e concur that !ressure ta!s are the "ost co""on "ethod to "easure dense bed height. Multi!le ta!s "ounted at varying elevations (ith one set &ully i""ersed in the catalyst bed (ill allo( deter"ination o& the bed level. 6he &ully i""ersed set o& ta!s is used to calculate the bed density. Redundant ta!s are reco""ended (hen "easuring and re!orting bed level to the distributed control syste". Occasional checks are reco""ended to ensure accurate readings are being taken. Also$ radioactive sodiu"$ one radioactive "ethod not "entioned yet$ is used to deter"ine catalyst distribution bet(een cyclone sets. 6he sodiu" is in7ected (ith the s!ent catalyst !rior to entry into the regenerator. 6he added sodiu" ty!ically "easures less than 1 !!" on the catalyst. Radioactive counts are then "easured as the catalyst enters the !ri"ary cyclones and e2its the secondary cyclones into the !lenu". Maldistribution o& catalyst bet(een cyclone inlets can be "easured. 6his techni.ue can also be used to check &or holes in the cyclones by co"!aring the catalyst entering each cyclone inlet and the catalyst e2iting the secondary cyclone outlets. Re,a /adeghbeigi #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C Conventional !ressure ta! indicators #PIRs% continue to be an e&&ective "eans o& deter"ining catalyst level in the reactor;regenerator vessels. 6o veri&y uni&or" catalyst distribution$ one "ust install these !ressure+ ta! indicators in at least t(o di&&erent orientations. In addition$ other delta P ta!s "ust be !resent to deter"ine actual catalyst &lo(ing density. In absence o& catalyst density ta!s$ there are !ro!riety correlations$ (hich calculate the catalyst density. 6he ga""a ray ?scanning? can also be used to deter"ine catalyst bed level. *eter"ining the a"ount o& catalyst being carried into the cyclones also re.uires kno(ledge o& the vesselRs su!er&icial velocity$ catalyst !hysical !ro!erties$ and the "echanical geo"etry o& the reactor;regenerator vessels. Again$ there are !ro!rietary e.uations that can ade.uately calculate the catalyst loading$ !rovided the above !ara"eters are used. LO/0PH IM/O5 #Barnes N Click$ Inc.%C e

I think it (as !retty obvious &ro" the discussion &ro" the !anel and others that the !ri"ary !ressure "easure"ent is (ith the !ressure ta!s$ and you need to re"e"ber that these are !urged ta!s$ (hich have air or so"e other !urge gas &lo(ing through the". I& they start to !lug u! 7ust a little bit$ they can give you a &alse reading. /o i& you start seeing a dri&t in the reading$ it is so"eti"es not that things are changed$ it is that the ta!s are !lugging. 6he other thing regarding these !urged ta!s isC (hen you calibrate the *P cells you need to do it (ith the !urges running because there is a !ressure dro! associated (ith the !urges.

6alking about the density instru"ents$ i& you do not have the"$ you "ight be able to "ake one. I& you have any t(o !ressure ta!s in the bed at t(o di&&erent elevations$ you can &abricate a density ta! (ith only "inor "odi&ications. I& you have a *C/$ you can calibrate the control syste" to read (hatever density units you (ant. Finally$ on the catalyst and air distribution issue$ another thing you can look at to see (hat the distribution "ight be in the regenerator is the individual cyclone inlet or outlet te"!eratures. I& you see a big di&&erence bet(een a &e( cyclones and all the others + one or t(o cyclones running hotter + it !robably "eans you have a catalyst distribution !roble" in the unit. It "ight be air. In "y e2!erience$ ho(ever$ it has al"ost al(ays been catalyst. I& you are running a high te"!erature CO co"bustion unit$ the hot cyclones (ill usually be close to (here the s!ent catalyst co"es in the unit. I& it is a !artial burn unit$ they (ill usually be about 1<> degrees a(ay &ro" the catalyst entry. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

I guess to veri&y or con&ir" (hat everybody else is saying I thought that having !urged delta P ta!s in the regenerator (as standard e.ui!"ent$ i.e.$ t(o in the bed at di&&erent levels &or density and t(o across the bed &or the level. /o"eti"es the lo(est ta! serves both delta P cells$ so there are actually only three ta!s. 5o($ to get back to the catalyst distribution in the regenerator. A recent Hellogg reva"! that (e a&&ected on a unit I (as involved (ith changed out the old air grid &or their three+ !art grid (ith a butter&ly valve on each o& the three air su!!ly lines. e had "ulti!le te"!eratures around the !eri!hery o& the regenerator at several levels. I& I had nothing to do$ I could have ke!t "ysel& entertained all day long ad7usting those butter&ly valves trying to &ind the o!ti"u" !oint to run that unit. I a" sure an o!ti"i,er could have &igured it out &airly .uickly$ but it certainly (as beyond "y &eeble "ental ca!acity. /u&&ice it to say that (ith 7ust "inor ad7ust"ent to those valves I could change the te"!erature !ro&iles around the regenerator rather dra"atically. Kiven that any one o& those butter&ly valves "ust be (ide o!en$ I could "ove the hot s!ot around &ro" one side o& the regenerator to the other by ad7usting the other t(o valves. 6his unit had an internal catalyst distributor that delivered the s!ent catalyst uni&or"ly to the to! o& the dense bed. 6o con&ir" (hat Mr. ilson 7ust said$ I &ound that the best o!eration a!!eared to be (ith the butter&ly valve on the inlet side o& the regenerator (ide o!en (ith the valves to the other t(o grids slightly throttled. I theori,e that even though the s!ent catalyst (as distributed uni&or"ly$ the bulk o& the &lo( (as still to the inlet side o& the regenerator. 6his (as because the outlet to the regenerator stand!i!e (as on that side also$ and that acted to drag the catalyst &lo( &ro" the inlet distributor to that side o& the regenerator. Having a second set o& ta!s &or catalyst density deter"ination on the .uiet side o& that regenerator (ould have hel!ed to con&ir" "y theory. *AGI* B3CIOR #/yneti2 /ervices%C I (anted to share so"e o& our 18 years e2!erience using radio tracers in &luid catalytic cracker under the 6racer Co. brand. e discussed brie&ly the use o& sodiu" radio tracers. I (anted to !oint out that a good radio tracer study is also going to include va!or !hase tra&&ic. It is !retty i"!ortant. A large bulk o& (hat the catalyst does is going to be deter"ined by (hat the va!or is doing. I& you do a catalyst distribution and you &ind e2cessive losses &ro" one cyclone$ you could still have .uite a &e( other reasons &or those losses. Iou include the va!or !hase study and those losses "ay be the result o& air distribution or air "aldistribution in the grid causing an increased locali,ed velocity and overloading the cyclone. ARR05 M06J/CH #/tone N ebster 0ngineers N Constructors%C

6here are usually t(o sets o& ta!s at least$ and you could have three on larger regenerators (here you do "easure the density and the overall bed height. It is i"!ortant to look at those

because the density does "ake a big di&&erence. Further"ore$ i& you have an u!set on the unit and you co"e back online those bed density ta!s can give so"e clue as to the air distributor !roble". I think you have to be care&ul about locating ta!s near ledges in your regenerator or reactor vessel$ because you can get so"e very !oor readings in that situation. I did co"e across one unit (here they$ in &act$ had the ta!s hooked u! (rong and they thought they (ere reading the total bed height but$ in &act$ had the u!!er density ta! hooked u! to the to! ta! o& the vessel so the bed height (as about 8 &eet higher than thought. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C 6he catalyst entrain"ent to the cyclone is a strong &unction o& the bubble si,e dia"eter (hen it leaves the air distributor. For "ost FCC3s the "a2i"u " bubble si,e is -9 inches$ and the "ini"u " 6*H or trans!ort disengaging height is ty!ically )>> to )1> inches. Most cyclones are above this level. 6his assu"es uni&or" velocity distribution across the regenerator. *a"age to the air distributor can ske( this velocity !ro&ile and overload so"e cyclones (hile underloading others. ARR05 M06J/CH #/tone N ebster 0ngineers N Constructors%C

Cracking catalysts are ty!e A solids$ and ty!e A solids in &luidi,ation do have in &act a "a2i"u " stable bubble si,e. For ty!ical cracking catalysts that runs bet(een 1 and < inches usually. Iou can get larger bubbles because they coalesce be&ore they break u!$ but ty!ically those are the largest bubbles that you (ill see. As &ar as the trans!ort disengaging height$ it is a &unction o& the su!er&icial velocity$ and i& you are running around - to -.8 &eet a second$ you (ill need at least )> &eet o& trans!ort disengaging height. On one unit that (e looked at years ago$ the re&iner (as running the unit (ith a high bed level and had about 1< &eet o& trans!ort disengaging height. He (as losing about a ton and a hal& o& catalyst a day. By dro!!ing the bed level do(n ) &eet and going to a trans!ort disengaging height o& )> &eet$ the losses on the unit dro!!ed to hal& a ton a day. I kno( this only too (ell$ because I (as the catalyst su!!lier and I lost a ton a day o& business. /IMO5 S3 #6ru+ 6ec /ervices$ Inc.%C It is (ell kno(n that the catalyst densities$ levels and;or their distribution in various locations #riser$ stri!!er$ cyclones and stand!i!es% are i"!ortant !ara"eters &or FCC3 !er&or"ance. Most o& us used to esti"ate or !redict the !ara"eters &ro" the traditional "easure"ents$ like te"!erature !ro&ile and;or !ressure !ro&ile. 5onetheless those are not direct "easure"ents o& the density or the distribution. 6he ga""a scan (e have been using can identi&y actual catalyst density$ bed level and;or distribution and that is a direct "easure"ent. For assessing the distribution and;or velocity$ ga""a isoto!e tracers can be used &or labeling the &lo(s o& va!or or catalyst !hases. Ka""a detectors set around the vessel (ill directly "easure the radiation intensities #(hich is !ro!ortional to the va!or or catalyst &lo(% o& the labeled !hase. 6he tracer technology has been used success&ully to "easure the sli! &actor o& va!or;catalyst &lo( in risers$ the &lo( distribution o& va!or or catalyst to the !ri"ary cyclones and stea" distribution in the catalyst stri!!er. P060R A5*R0 / #Consultant%C

6he air to catalyst content in regenerators is nor"ally not !er&ect. I& it (ere$ (e (ould not be using CO !ro"oter and the bed te"!erature (ould be the sa"e as the cyclone te"!erature. Because it is not !er&ect$ (e "ay have "ore air going u! one side than the other and catalyst loss "ay or "ay not be a !roble"$ de!ending on design$ i.e.$ 6*H$ velocity$ air distributor and s!ent catalyst inlet &lo( !ath.

Question < /o"e re&iners are currently using o2ygen enrich"ent to debottleneck their regenerators and allo( &eedstock &le2ibility. hat o2ygen levels are being !racticed$ and ho( is the enrich"ent !rocess controlled' hat is the i"!act on catalyst activity and "ake+ u! rates' G0RR05HAMPC O2ygen enrich"ent is being used at a cou!le o& the BP A"oco FCC units. Concentrations u! to about )=F in the co"bined air o2ygen entering the regenerator have been utili,ed$ and (e have one unit starting u! ne2t year (here the design is actually -)F. In talking (ith BOC a cou!le o& years ago$ they "ade "e a(are o& one out&it that used to run about 1>F be&ore they "ade a "istake on startu! and basically "elted a lot o& stu&&. 6he o2ygen is blended in the air lines u!strea" o& the regenerator check valves$ s!ring loaded check valves$ ty!ically using s!ecial s!arges aligned in the &lo( direction. 6he in7ection !oint "ust be su&&iciently &ar u!strea" o& the regenerator to ensure co"!lete "i2ing !rior to entry. 6he control o& the o2ygen &lo( rate is either &lo( controlled or ratio controlled (ith the air &lo( rate. 6here are obviously tri!s on the o2ygen &lo( rate based on ty!ically lo( riser te"!erature$ lo( slide valve di&&erentials and total or !artial loss o& air. Other areas to evaluate (hen considering o2ygen enrich"ent are the deleterious e&&ect on air blo(er ca!acity due to increased air line !ressure dro! and the increase in the regenerator bed te"!erature as a result o& loss o& nitrogen as a heat sink. As I have "entioned !reviously$ so"eti"es a reva"! to o2ygen enrich"ent (ill necessitate the installation o& the catalyst cooler or going &urther into !artial burn. Regarding 0CA6 MA6$ I guess I (ould e2!ect to see a dro! in it due to the higher !article burn te"!eratures$ but to be honest in any re&ineries I have been involved in that use it$ (e have not seen it. *AR*05C e in7ect o2ygen into the discharge o& the "ain air blo(er (ell u!strea" o& the regenerator. 5or"al "a2i"u " is about )8 to )8.8F o2ygen content in the air going to the regenerator. e ad7ust that rate to "aintain regenerator bed te"!erature and !ercent CO. e are in a !artial burn "ode all o& the ti"e. e are interlocked to co"e do(n on the o2ygen i& (e have lo( air &lo( to the regenerator. e really have not been able to detect any i"!act on catalyst activity in our syste". KA660C I a" glad to hear that "y colleagues have not seen any i"!act on catalyst activity in their units. In general$ (e (ould e2!ect to see so"e additional deactivation due to enrich"ent because o& the increased regenerator te"!erature and also the increase in the stea" !artial !ressure in the regenerator. e (ould also e2!ect to see greater vanadiu" "obility at higher local O) !artial !ressures$ (hich &urther accelerates ,eolite destruction and catalyst activity loss. 6he severity and the i"!act o& enrich"ent on catalyst "ake+ u! rates and activity de!end directly on the "ode o& o!eration o& the regenerator and the goals o& the re&inery. I& the regenerator is designed such that the s!ent catalyst is brought into contact (ith the enriched air strea" #like in a Model II unit%$ the e&&ects o& enrich"ent are e2!ected to be "ore severe because all o& the "ore severe deactivating e&&ects (ill be locali,ed in the botto" o& the bed. I&$ ho(ever$ the catalyst is distributed on the u!!er !ortion o& the bed (here the o2ygen concentration is theoretically de!leted$ and i& the o!eration is run at relatively lo( e2cess o2ygen levels$ the e2tent o& catalyst deactivation brought on by the enrich"ent should be "ini"al.

In any case$ the catalyst vendors have o!tions to i"!rove the stability o& catalysts that are being used in these higher severity o!erations. O!erations that are already !ushing the li"its o& regenerator te"!erature and severity !rior to i"!le"entation o& O) enrich"ent should really see li"ited deactivation increases &ro" the added o2ygen since they already !robably are running a catalyst syste" thatRs been designed &or high severity o!eration. I have only one additional co""ent. As Mr. /adeghbeigi "entioned$ "any re&ineries use o2ygen enrich"ent as a "eans &or increasing coke burning ca!acity to take advantage o& the increased ca!acity to run lo(er .uality &eeds or increase their &eed through!ut. In this scenario$ a "ore stable catalyst &or"ulation (ill de&initely be re.uired in order to co"bat the higher te"!erature;"etals severity o& the ne( o!eration. HRI/H5AC e use o2ygen enrich"ent in one o& our FCC3s. 6his is the unit I (as re&erring to in the earlier discussion. e ty!ically use about ):F o2ygen in the air$ and I think that is about the level (e needed to get the su!er&icial velocities do(n and shut those hal& a do,en or so au2iliary blo(ers (e used to run. I think the !revious !anelists have covered the issues on in7ection and sa&ety shutdo(n syste"s. e$ too$ have not been able to see any discernable change in catalyst activity or "ake+ u! rate since (e started in7ecting o2ygen in 1==9. MAIOC It looks like Mr. Katte and I are in agree"ent on this one. 6he bed te"!eratures o& "any regenerators have been observed to increase by 1+8UF !er !ercent o2ygen enrich"ent. More signi&icant than the elevated bed te"!erature is the te"!erature e2!erienced by the catalyst !article during the burn. 6he !resence o& stea"$ vanadiu"$ and sodiu" (ill cause an increased deactivation rate o& the ,eolite. 6here&ore$ the ty!ical unit (ill observe a loss in activity &ollo(ing o2ygen enrich"ent. Catalyst addition rates (ill need to increase by a!!ro2i"ately 1.8F !er !ercent o2ygen enrich"ent to "aintain constant activity. /ince it a&&ects the ,eolite only$ increased ,eolite content to increase the activity or rare earth addition to increase ,eolite stability can be e&&ective. In cases (here the e.uilibriu" nickel content e2ceeds 1>>> !!"$ addition o& s!ecial alu"inas &or lo(er delta coke can be an e&&ective o!tion. /6I50/C Our o2ygen levels and e2!erience and control syste" are e2actly the sa"e as Mr. *ardenEs. also do not see any change in catalyst activity or "akeu! rates. IMMIAM H055I5K #Conoco$ Inc.%C e use o2ygen so"eti"es in our Make Charles re&inery cracker$ (hen it is econo"ic to do so$ to run "ore &eed and burn "ore coke. e &ound that it increased catalyst deactivation$ "ore so than (e (ould e2!ect 7ust &ro" the 1>+ )>U F rise in bed te"!erature. e generally had to increase &resh catalyst addition u! to )>F to "aintain the sa"e e.uilibriu" activity. LO/0PH MCM0A5 #0ngelhard Cor!oration%C Lust to (eigh+ in (ith the third catalyst vendor co""ent here$ (e have not really seen a consistent ans(er$ either$ on the issue o& the increased deactivation. It see"s like so"eti"es (e see it and so"eti"es (e do not. Ho(ever$ obviously the reason !eo!le are going to o2ygen enrich"ent is to do so"ething di&&erent$ ty!ically run "ore &eed or so"e other co"bination o& changes (hich "ake it hard to &erret out e2actly (hat the catalyst i"!act is. e did (ork (ith one re&iner (here they very diligently did track this. And their e2!erience (as e

their addition rates to "aintain the sa"e in+ unit activity (ent &ro" 8 tons a day to :$ (hich calculates to a 1>F increase. 6hey then increase the activity o& the &or"ulation by a lot less than that 1>F (e (ere able to bring it back to 8. /o$ based on that e2!erience$ I (ould say even (hen you "ake only this change and you really try and stay on to! o& it$ the data is a little bit con&licting. Ho(ever$ (e do$ in general$ see so"e increase in the deactivation rate and "akeu! rate. G0RR05HAMPC 6he air catalyst distribution$ i.e.$ ho( good that is$ think$ that (ould certainly have an i"!act is (hat already on closed cou!led cyclones$ short contact high$ &airly active$ &resh sur&ace area$ and you are MA R05C0 MACILA5 #3OP MMC%C As (ith "ost issues in the FCC3$ this is a &airly co"!le2 issue. But 7ust &or the record$ (e do not have a hard and &ast nu"ber that (e reco""end on o2ygen !ercent. I (ould say generally (e &ind$ (hen (e get to the ):F or )<F o2ygen level$ the !rocess i"!acts &ro" the increased te"!erature as 7ust described$ (ill set the !rocess li"its &aster than the actual hard nu"ber o& !ercent o2ygen. Iou (ill &ind that the regenerator te"!erature goes u!$ su!er&icial velocity (ill start going u!$ and the unit (ill beco"e less attractive &ro" a yield !er&or"ance on account o& that$ so you (ill sto! at that level. One o!tion$ then$ (ould be to add a catalyst cooler to control the regenerator te"!erature and bring it back do(n (here you started &ro" to get back into a "ore &avorable yield !attern. LO/0PH IM/O5 #Barnes N Click$ Inc.%C is going to have a big i"!act. 6he other area$ I your base catalyst is to start (ith. I& you are ti"e devices$ you are already going to be &airly not going to see the a&&ect as "uch.

*oes anyone have any "ore in&or"ation on this unit that (as running 1>F$ or allegedly running 1>F. /!eci&ically$ do you kno( i& they ran it &or a sustained !eriod o& ti"e' as this a &airly long run' ere there any !roble"s related to it' FRA5H 0MGI5 #Coastal Catalyst 6echnology$ Inc.%C Many li&eti"es ago I (as re&inery "anager o& the old Kood Ho!e re&ineries (here (e (ere using 1>F o2ygen enrich"ent. e (ere one o& the &irst re&ineries to use o2ygen enrich"ent. 6he reason (e could use such high concentrations (ere relatively si"!le. e had a 19> ton inventory$ and (e (ere using 1> ton a day o& catalyst. /o (e had a &our day average catalyst li&e. /o$ deactivation (as not really a !roble". e (ere able to "aintain :> activity (ith 1>F o2ygen. e also had very large internal stea" coils$ so (e had heat re"oval. e did o!erate regenerator te"!erature at 118>@F &or the co"bination o& the very lo( average age o& the catalyst and the high activity catalyst (e used. e could "aintain activity. RAKH3 M05O5 #BOC%C 6he base regenerator te"!erature "akes a di&&erence. /econdly$ so"ething (hich has not been covered$ is the a"ount o& unstri!!ed hydrocarbons that co"e over to the regenerator. Because as you use o2ygen enrich"ent$ you are running higher catalyst circulation rate$ (hich "eans i& you are not "aintaining your stri!!er &lu2 and stri!!er !er&or"ance$ you are going to have higher hydrocarbon carryover$ (hich adds to the higher stea" !artial !ressure. /o$ one needs to look at all o& these in co"bination. 6he reason there are so"e !eo!le (ho say that they see increased deactivation$ so"e others (ho say they see decreased deactivation is because one is not decou!ling the di&&erent e&&ects. For e2a"!le$ in so"e units$ you "ight have higher !article te"!eratures$ there&ore increased deactivation &ro" that !oint o& vie(. Ho(ever$ they "ight have less (ear in ter"s o& the read to the !o(er. 6hat is associated (ith the a"ount o& !articulate generation$ there&ore less carryover$

and it sort o& co"!ensates. /o there are a nu"ber o& balancing &actors. *0MB0R6 6OM05 #Rocky Mountain /alvage%C Regarding the !ercent o2ygen "a2i"u " that has been used in FCC3s$ I recall a FCC3 running (ith -<F o2ygen. 5o($ that is (ay too high$ because (e have heard about catalyst deactivation. Most o& the catalyst deactivation is due to high sur&ace &la"e te"!eratures co"ing &ro" the hydrocarbon evolution out o& the catalyst !articles. hen you raise the o2ygen content$ (here the catalyst returns to the regenerator$ you then raise the sur&ace &la"e te"!erature on the catalyst !articles and increase the deactivation. /o anyti"e you raise the o2ygen content (here the catalyst is being stri!!ed$ or the stri!!ed catalyst is being heated u! and the hydrogen evolves$ you are going to get very high sur&ace &la"e te"!erature and higher deactivation rates. I have never seen any o2ygen enrich"ent that did not cause higher catalyst deactivation. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

At this !oint I (ould like to !ut a !lug in &or the au2iliary air blo(ers that everybody else is re"oving. 5ot one on (heels$ but one that is !er"anently installed. I 7ust (ant to "ention that there is an alternative to this$ i& the regenerator is not su!er&icial velocity li"ited. 6hat is the use o& a !ositive dis!lace"ent au2iliary air blo(er. I kno( o& one unit that does have one$ and it is a rotary variable vane blo(er. It sounded like a !encil grinder (hen it (as running$ because it had (ooden variable vanes. It (as a very si"!le design (ith a rotary co"!ressor on each side o& a 9>> h! s.uirrel cage "otor$ (ith no &ancy lubrication syste" e2ce!t &or an oiler &or the vanes. All (e had to do (as !ush a button to start it or sto! it. It (as about 1>F o& the si,e o& the "ain air blo(er. 6hat still allo(ed the "ain air blo(er to o!erate on its curve$ and to give the sa"e res!onse (hen the regenerator !ressure (as raised or lo(ered. 6his (as not an e2!ensive installation. 6here is no instru"entation involved. It sounds to "e that it is a lot easier to do than to (orry about all o& the other stu&& (e have discussed !ertaining to o2ygen enrich"ent. It is not as se2y as o2ygen enrich"ent$ but I (ill bet it is &ar less e2!ensive$ both &ro" ca!ital invest"ent and o!erating e2!ense stand!oints. 1. Reactor Question = Catalyst sli! and distribution in the riser have a signi&icant i"!act on !roduct yields. "ethods are available &or evaluating these !ara"eters' hat

Question 1> hat are the techni.ues &or deter"ining actual residence ti"es o& oil va!or and catalyst in the riser$ ?reactor? vessel$ stri!!ing bed and;or cyclones' PROOP/C Residence ti"es o& both the va!or and catalyst !hases can be deter"ined by use o& radioactive tracers. 6he va!or !hase is tested (ith an inert gas$ such as argon 11$ and the catalyst !hase (ith sodiu" )1. Radioactive detectors are !laced e2ternally in strategic locations on e.ui!"ent and !i!ing and res!ond to the isoto!es as they travel through the syste". 6he data can be used to deter"ine catalyst sli!$ cyclone !er&or"ance$ stri!!er !er&or"ance$ and residence ti"e o& both !hases &or the co"!lete syste". Figure II+) sho(s !ulses &or va!or and catalyst !hases. 6he dashed lines are at the to! o& the riser$ and the solid lines are at the botto". Hno(ing the height bet(een the t(o !oints allo(s calculation o& velocity. 6he ratio o& the t(o velocities is the catalyst sli! &actor. Figure II+- sho(s the distribution o& va!or only in the cyclone syste". In this unit$ there are eight cyclones and you can see that there is "aldistribution$ because the !eak heights are di&&erent in

the di&&erent cyclones. Ka""a CA6 /can can be used &or non+ destructive i"aging o& the catalyst distribution inside the riser. A ga""a source and a detector are !laced at !redeter"ined !oints around the outside (all o& the concerned elevation$ and the radiation intensities !assing through the chords bet(een the source and detector are collected. *ensity !ro&ile i"age can be reconstructed &ro" the chord densities$ (hich are calculated &ro" the radiation intensities. 6he CA6 /can in&or"ation is used to deter"ine the uni&or"ity o& va!or+ catalyst "i2ing$ to evaluate changes in design and o!eration o& &eed in7ection no,,les$ or the i"!act o& variation in li&t gas or stea" rate. I (ould also like to describe Pine BendEs s!ent catalyst stri!!er. 6his is a 3OP annular ty!e stri!!er. e raised FCC rate over a !eriod o& years and noticed the dyna"ic activity #second order conversion divided by coke yield% (as going do(n$ so (e started looking at the s!ent catalyst stri!!er. 6he velocities through the holes in the stea" distributor looked !retty lo($ and that the !ressure dro! across the stri!!ing trays (as also lo($ so (e sus!ected "aldistribution. 6he unit engineer tried restricting the stea" &lo( to each side o& the stri!!er #(e had a s!lit ring (ith t(o inlets% and noticed absolutely no change in the unit o!eration. A ga""a scan con&ir"ed that the catalyst (as essentially going do(n one side o& the stri!!er and the stea" (as going u! the other side. e got so"e i"!rove"ent by increasing the &lu&&ing stea" at the botto" o& the stri!!er. e sa( that there (as very little res!onse (ith increased stri!!ing stea". orking (ith 3OP$ (e develo!ed "odi&ications that (ere installed at the last turnaround. e took out the botto" three ba&&les and re!laced the" (ith t(o higher !ressure dro! ba&&les #&e(er holes% and also re!laced the stri!!ing stea" rings. e have seen a signi&icant i"!rove"ent in stri!!er !er&or"ance. e have not rescanned$ but (e (ill be doing that soon. 6he stri!!er (ill !robably never be as good as ne($ but (e are !retty ha!!y$ so &ar. MAIOC In addition to the use o& radioactive tracers so (ell covered by Mr. Proo!s$ (e have e2!erience (ith a cou!le o& other "ethods &or detecting catalyst sli! by "easuring te"!eratures. One o& our custo"ers had three !orts around their &eed no,,les in the FCC riser. 6hey (ere able to insert a ther"ocou!le through a !acking gland and obtain a te"!erature !ro&ile. I& this !ro&ile (as &lat$ it (as assu"ed that they (ere not getting "uch sli!. 6hey used the !ro&ile to ad7ust li&t gas and no,,le stea" to try to obtain a better !ro&ile. As a result$ they (ere able to get lo(er dry gas and i"!rove yield selectivities. Another custo"er has a &e( e2tra ther"ocou!les located above and belo( the &eed no,,les. hen the ther"ocou!le belo( the &eed no,,les starts to get cold they kno( that$ &or (hatever reason$ they have !oor no,,le "i2ing due to cold &eed s!illing belo( the no,,les instead o& only being carried u!(ards. 6he no,,le stea" and;or li&t gas is ad7usted until the !attern is i"!roved. In res!onse to Question 1>$ another "aybe ine2!ensive (ay to check residence ti"e is to "onitor the unit conversion$ and then calculate the catalyst hold+ u! needed &or "aintaining that level o& conversion. Obviously$ you need a reliable "odel &or doing this ty!e o& calculation$ but the riser hold+ u! usually &its theoretical calculations based on gas velocity$ "olar e2!ansion and viscosity changes. 6he e2tent o& the &it largely de!ends on the catalyst distribution and .uality o& the unit "onitoring data. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering%C Be&ore the advent o& high e&&iciency &eed no,,les$ the sli! ratio in a riser (as ty!ically in the order o& ).8 to -. 6hat "eans the catalyst traveled about ).8 to - ti"es as slo( as the hydrocarbon va!ors. ith the ne( &eed no,,les syste"$ (e have seen the sli! &actor a!!roaching 1.8 to 1.>. *AGI* B3CIOR #/yneti2 /ervices%C

Question 1> re&erences actual residence ti"e. I (anted to !oint out usually (e think o& a "ean residence ti"e. Certainly a "ean residence ti"e is available &ro" tracer technologies. But e.ually i"!ortant (ould be the .uickest residence ti"e and also the slo(est residence ti"e. In !articular$ i& (e look at riser disengaging devices and think about that$ (e can have a .uick "ean residence ti"e in so"e o& the ne( closed syste"s (here =>F o& the i"!ulse or the radar tagged strea" &lo(s out (ith the "ean residence ti"e o& 1 seconds. But the 1>F that !erha!s esca!es contain"ent can be in the dilute !hase &or .uite a signi&icant ti"e. It is not enough$ necessarily$ to drag the "ean out to a long ti"e$ but it sure is a lot o& conversion di&&erence. /o (henever you are thinking residence ti"es$ do not li"it yoursel& to "ean residence ti"es$ think also o& the .uickest and the slo(est. Also$ you could take the residence ti"e to a !osition (here you actually calculate at S ti"e a&ter entrance$ S !ercent o& the !rocess strea" has !assed through the syste"$ and end u! (ith a curve that is on the S+a2is$ !ercent o& &lo($ and on the I+a2is$ ti"e. MA R05C0 MACILA5 #3OP MMC%C It is &airly co""on !ractice to calculate the hydrocarbon residence ti"e in the riser. 6here are t(o "ethods P the si"!le "ethod o& taking total outlet "oles o& the riser and divide by the riser volu"e. 6he other "ethod is to !seudo+ integrate the conversion through the riser and integrate the "olar e2!ansion over the volu"e o& the riser$ (hich is the "ethod (e use. 6he riser residence ti"e calculation result using this "ethod is slightly longer since the lo(er riser is "ore accurately re!resented. Radio tracer techni.ues have been used to "easure catalyst and hydrocarbon residence ti"e in the riser$ reactor vessel and reactor stri!!er. 0arlier this year$ a !a!er (as !resented at the Asia Paci&ic 6echnology Con&erence in /inga!ore describing this ty!e o& testing !er&or"ed at /tatoil$ using these techni.ues. 6he !a!er is entitled /uccesses in a Resid Fluid Catalytic Cracking 3nit Moderni,ation Pro7ect authored by /tatoil$ 3OP MMC$ and /yneti2 /ervices. 6he testing (as !er&or"ed to docu"ent the change in residence ti"e (hen the unit (as reva"!ed &ro" a vented riser to a &ully contained G// disengager. Both the yield i"!rove"ents and the radioactive test techni.ues are described in the !a!er$ and co!ies are available u!on re.uest &ro" 3OP. MARRI *05H #/tone N ebster 0ngineering N Constructors$ Inc.%C

6here are so"e !o(er&ul techni.ues available at this ti"e to analy,e distributionsO but let us not &orget the si"!le$ single+ gauge !ressure survey. *AGI* /6RA5KM0I0R #6ru+ 6ec /ervices$ Inc.%C Along (ith these .uestions (e have talked about single e2a"!les o& (hat can be done (ith riser sli! and entrain"ent to the cyclones. 6hese tests can give you this in&or"ation (ith one or t(o isoto!e in7ections. At the sa"e ti"e$ (e are not talking about "ulti!le di&&erent tests$ 7ust to clari&y that. Question 11 Ho( high a riser te"!erature has a re&iner actually o!erated (ith "odern riser ter"ination devices that reduce dilute !hase contact ti"e' Has 1>)8@F been run or e2ceeded on a consistent basis' hat yields or !roble"s are associated (ith this o!eration' HRI/H5AC e o!erated one unit at 1>)8@F riser outlet &or an e2tended !eriod o& ti"e. 6he only !roble" (as they (ere "aking "ore light ole&ins than the alky !lant could handle. 6hey have since reassessed their econo"ics and they run closer to about 1>>>@F these days. 6here is also another unit that runs day in and day out at about 1>18@F. But I also kno( that "y other !anelists are going to beat "e in ter"s o& the highest riser outlet te"!erature.

MAIOC e have a nu"ber o& custo"ers running at 1>)8UF on a consistent basis. 6his ty!e o& o!eration has beco"e &easible due to "any i"!rove"ents in FCC3 o!erations$ unit design$ and catalyst technology. /o"e o& these i"!rove"ents includeC #1% I"!roved &eed N catalyst "i2ing due to the develo!"ent o& high e&&iciency &eed no,,les. 6his has enhanced oil contact resulting in reduced ther"al cracking. #)% Mini"i,ation o& riser back "i2ing. #-% Mini"i,ed !ost riser ther"al cracking due to i"!roved riser ter"ination devices including close+ cou!led cyclones. #1% Introduction o& lo( delta coke active alu"inas in FCC catalysts. #8% 0nhanced accessibility FCC catalyst syste"s develo!ed by Ak,o 5obel resulting in reduced secondary reactions. #9% Pro!rietary ne( binder technologies develo!ed by Ak,o 5obel that allo( greater access to the active co"!onents o& the catalyst !articles. e have a nu"ber o& di&&erent o!erations running in the 1>)> to 1>->@F range. 6heir yield structures are de!endent on a nu"ber o& &actors$ including &eed !ro!erties$ unit design and catalyst activity and selectivity. O!eration at these elevated te"!eratures &avors the !roduction o& MPK ole&ins$ increases dry gas yield$ and increases gasoline octanes. G0RR05HAMPC /o"e o& our units go as high as 1>1>@F on a routine basis. 6hey achieve these te"!eratures by utili,ing A"ocoEs o(n technology$ (hich ra!idly dro!s the !ost+ riser te"!eratures belo( that at (hich overcracking reactions occur. Obviously$ be&ore "oving into these higher riser te"!erature o!erations$ "any issues (ere revie(ed and solutions raised. 6hese included "ini"i,ation o& the i"!act o& ther"al reactions on the yield slate$ butadiene yield increase$ and o2ygen stability o& the na!htha !roduct. 6he revie( also included a checkout o& all the "echanical co"!onents and a revie( o& the catalyst circulation to assure the ability o& the syste" to handle the increased catalyst tonnage. ith all this (ork co"!leted$ (e have had largely good e2!erience at these te"!eratures. KA660C e also have "any custo"ers (ho are currently using short contact ti"e$ .uick disengaging riser ter"ination devices (ho are running at high te"!eratures. 6he ty!ical te"!erature range see"s to be around 1>)>@F$ although there are several that (e kno( o& that run routinely at 1>)8@F$ and at least t(o that I a" &a"iliar (ith run at 1>1>@F routinely ever since a reva"! to a short contact ti"e o!eration. 6hese t(o do not !ractice any kind o& .uench technology. O& course these te"!eratures (ill nor"ally adversely a&&ect !roduct yields$ !articularly dry gas and butadiene yields. Ho(ever$ "any o& the re&ineries in .uestion have &ound that the dry gas and butadiene yields &or these high riser te"!erature$ ?short contact ti"e? o!erations are the sa"e or lo(er than their !revious ?long contact ti"e?$ lo( te"!erature o!erations. 6he higher te"!eratures have allo(ed these re&iners to also drive their conversion levels to high values$ des!ite the loss o& !ost riser cracking$ and they have been able to increase MPK ole&inicity and octane by the co"bined e&&ects o& higher te"!erature and lo(er contact ti"e. Question 1) hy are so"e re&iners re!lacing the reactor va!or line &igure ?<? blinds (ith block valves' PROOP/C /o"e re&iners #not Hoch% do this to reduce startu! ti"e by allo(ing the "ain &ractionator to (ar" u! and dry out (hile the catalyst is heated and circulated in the reactor+ regenerator. 6he valve is re"oved and rebuilt at each shutdo(n. It is assu"ed that it (ill seal until o!ened$ but it cannot be reclosed as a block. A double gate valve (ith hard !i!e stea" !urge bet(een the gates is used to "ini"i,e leakage. I (ill de&er any &urther discussion o& this to Peter Andre(s.

G0RR05HAMPC As Mr. Proo!s said$ (e have the" in a cou!le o& sites$ sa"e !roble"s$ sa"e issues$ "ost o& us (ish (e did not have the". LACOBC 6he changing o& the reactor;"ain colu"n blind has al(ays been a labor intensive and !otentially ha,ardous o!eration in the startu! o& a FCC unit. I& the reactor has been air &reed and the "ain colu"n has !reviously been inventoried &or the circulation o& the "ain colu"n !u"!+ around circuits$ de!ressuring the unit and ridding the colu"n o& hydrocarbon can be a ti"e consu"ing ste! in the startu!. 0levated te"!eratures$ o2ygen de!leted at"os!here and residual hydrocarbon all !roduce an environ"ent that easily leads to in7ury. ith the installation o& block valves$ all o& this is avoided. Ho(ever$ the re&iner "ust (eigh the negative (ith the !ositive. ithout having any &irst hand e2!erience (ith the block valves$ one o& the scourges o& the reactor va!or line is the !resence o& cold s!ots. A -9? block valve (ill !roduce a cold s!ot in the line. Cold s!ots ty!ically turn into coke de!osits$ (hich turn into overhead line restrictions. Mine restrictions in the reactor overhead s!ell decreased &eed through!ut and .uicken turnarounds. P060R A5*R0 / #Consultant%C

6here has been so"e discussion in the !ast about &igure eight versus block valves$ and I kno( o& "any units that use block valves. As all e2!erienced FCC o!erators kno($ (hen you !ut oil in the riser$ you (ant to get your !roduct to storage .uickly #&our or &ive hours% and on s!ec. But you cannot do it (ith a &igure eight blind. 5o "atter ho( hard you try to s(ing that &igure eight blind$ it al(ays see"s to ha!!en at "idnight and !eo!le have been hurt. 6he block valve$ re"e"ber$ is there &or only .uick and easy startu!s. It is not &or shutdo(n$ because the valve cokes u! during o!erationO once you are running it cokes u!. 6he co"!any reali,es that and has to decoke during 6A. But$ (hen you are setting u! the FCC to co"e online$ i& you have the "ain &ractionator to(er in o!eration$ all levels establishing the PA !u"!s are all on line$ and &or you to 7ust in7ect &eed and o!en that block valve$ you (ill have !roduct to storage very$ very &ast. /o there is a big !ayo&& in that valve versus &igure eight blind. 5aturally$ the va!orline block valve ste" is !ointing at =>+ 1-8 degreesO certainly not verticalV /6I50/C Have you noticed any signi&icant a"ount o& coke accu"ulation in that valve versus (hat you (ould e2!ect (ith a &igure eight blind' *o you see that the cold s!ot issue is signi&icant' P060R A5*R0 5o. IMMIAM H055I5K #Conoco$ Inc.%C I concur (ith (hat Mr. Andre(s and Mr. Proo!s have said. e have trans&er line block valves in our 3./. crackers. 6here are so"e i"!ortant sa&ety considerations i& you are going to consider these valves + they are large and they do not have a tight shuto&&$ and they can and do leak. 6he !ressure !ro&iles during startu! are still i"!ortant (hen you use the". As you do develo! your !rocedures$ you "ust assu"e that they do leak$ unless there is a (ay to !rove other(ise$ such as by having a double disk gate valve (ith a stea" !urge and !ressure indication bet(een the disks. As long as the area is held at a higher !ressure then either side o& the valve then there is no !rocess side leakage across it. / #Consultant%C

MICHA0M M0M0/H0G #Ji""er"ann N Lansen$ Inc.%C e have so"e uni.ue !ers!ectives on this a!!lication since (e are a valve "anu&acturer. 6hese line blinds are any(here &ro" )1 to :> inches in si,e. It nor"ally takes$ based on our .uestioning o& the re&iners$ any(here &ro" 1 to ) shi&ts to change that line blind. 6hat is (orking &our to eight !eo!le !er shi&t$ either to install or re"ove the blind. 6he re&iners tell us that (hen the line is blocked$ the only (ay to re!lace a line blind (ith a valve is to o&&er double block and bleed in the line. 6he only (ay to do that is i& you have the one valve$ t(o gates$ and a !urge syste" in bet(een. hen the line is o!en$ coking does occur (hen the valve sits in the o!en condition &or u! to three$ &our$ &ive years. 6here is a (ay to !rotect the valve gates &ro" coking (hen in the o!en condition$ and that technology does e2ist. I kno( that so"e !eo!le do not have that technology$ but it does e2ist. I did (ant to agree that the si"!le gate valves only (ork on the startu!$ not on the shutdo(nO but there is a huge bene&it to be gained &ro" seeing the valves that I have described and that have been success&ully o!erated over ti"e being installed since they can be used on shutdo(n$ as (ell. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

I agree (ith everything that has been said$ e2ce!t &or Mr. Gerrenka"!. I have been involved (ith t(o units that have these$ and I donEt kno( o& anyone at either !lace that regretted having that valve. In both cases they (ere used &or start u! only. 6he seats (ould al(ays coke u! during the run$ and (e (ould have to clean the" out in order to close it during a turnaround to !re!are it &or startu! again. e al(ays ke!t the !ressures correct during the startu!. Iou 7ust o!en the valve (hen you are ready to !ut the &eed in$ and u! you go. On those shut do(ns (hen (e did not or could not enter the Main Colu"n to clean the seats (e !er&or"ed the ensuing start+ u!s 7ust as you (ould a&ter a !o(er &ailure. By the (ay$ doing that also hel!ed to begin to change the "ind set about having to have a va!or line blind to s(ing. It got !eo!le a(ay &ro" that$ and they began to understand (hen you started talking about start+ u!s (ithout a blind or a valve. ith the blind there$ you 7ust cannot see" to get !ast it in the discussion. ith the valve it suddenly beca"e less o& an obstacle$ !articularly once they got a little !ractical e2!erience (ith the valve. On both units P and this is i"!ortant P (e had P/GEs on the reactor side$ because there is al(ays the chance that the valve can &ail during the run. 6hose P/GEs create lots o& !roble"s. In 5e( Me2ico (e had a (ater .uench syste" going to the &lare to .uickly cool the reactor va!ors$ so the &lare line (ould not e2!and so .uickly that it (ould knock the &lare over. e also had to install a sli! 7oint in the &lare header$ (hen (e erected that unit &or the sa"e reason. On the Cali&ornia unit the P/GEs 7ust (ent to at"os!here$ and that !revented us &ro" increasing the &eed rate to the unit. e could not get !er"its to install additional P/GEs (ithout going to the e2!ense o& tying the" into a &lare. I& you are conte"!lating installing such a valve in your reactor va!or line$ "ake sure it is installed (ith the ste" in the hori,ontal !osition. 6hat at least eli"inates one "ode o& &ailure. ith a vertical ste" there is al(ays the scenario that the gate could &all o&& the ste" during the run$ and !artially restrict the va!or line. MA R05C0 MACILA5 #3OP MMC%C As "uch as it distresses "e to disagree (ith "y colleagues$ es!ecially Mr. Andre(s$ I &eel co"!elled to do so. Procedures can be (ritten so that it is not necessary to s(ing the blind at the "ain colu"n during startu!. I& you take the a!!roach that the reactor and the "ain colu"n are one vessel$ you can start the blo(er and stea" out the reactor and "ain colu"n as one unit$ and you can !ull the blind at the beginning o& the startu! (hen it is cold and relatively easy. A "ain

colu"n inlet valve is not re.uired. Iou heat u! the regenerator$ load catalyst$ !ut &eed in$ and reach nor"al o!eration (ithout the need &or a valve. e consider the blind to be a "aintenance isolation !iece o& e.ui!"ent and !ut it in (hen it is necessary at turnaround ti"e to go into the "ain colu"n. But you really do not need it &or a startu! o!eration. 6here are concerns &or sa&ety$ as "entioned$ i& the valve closes during o!eration. 6here are no sa&ety valves on a reactor in a "odern unit$ at least not in a 3OP unit. 6he reactor and the "ain colu"n are considered one vessel$ and they are !rotected that (ay$ by design$ (ith the P/Gs located on the "ain colu"n overhead syste". R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering%C More and "ore !eo!le see" interested in !utting in those isolation valves. Iou can design a valve that (ould not coat$ but it is going to cost about Q)>>$>>> &or a -9+ inch line. /o you have got to kee! that in "ind. One o& the bene&its o& having a valve is that &or FCC3s that have a closed cou!le cyclone$ you can actually line u! the unit and donEt (orry about catalyst carryover into the "ain &ractionator (hen you have that valve. Iou can circulate (ith the stea" &or three or &our hours$ line u! the unit$ and (hen you &eel co"&ortable that the unit is not going to have a catalyst carryover$ you can go ahead$ introduce the &eed and o!en the valve. /o those are !robably so"e o& the key advantages o& having a valve instead o& the blindO that it ensures you that i& you have a catalyst loss$ it is not going to go "i2 it (ith the slurry and "ess u! your (hole unit. MA R05C0 MACILA5 #3OP MMC%C /ince about 1=:< or 1=<>$ all the ne( units that (e have (ritten !rocedures &or$ (e call &or a blind out ty!e startu!. I (ould say "ost ne( units have started u! that (ay P !robably =>F. O& the units !rior to 1=:<$ I still think the "a7ority o& those older units have s(itched &ro" the blind+ in !rocedure to the blind+ out !rocedure. 6here are a &e( units that have gone to kind o& a hal&(ay "ode$ (hich I also endorse$ (here (e (ould heat u! the reactor to about a nu"ber like 8>> or 9>>U F (ith air$ (ith the blind in. e could heat u! the regenerator$ load catalyst into the regenerator$ and a&ter stea"ing the reactor$ !ull the blind at this inter"ediate te"!erature$ and then !roceed (ith the heat u! the rest o& the (ay (ith stea". It is kind o& a co"!ro"ise &or !eo!le (ho are a&raid o& having (et stea" in the reactor and getting "ud !roble"s$ etc. As long as (e stay belo( coke co"bustion te"!erature (ith air in the reactor during the startu!$ this is a !rocedure that see"s to (ork (ell too. 8.O!ti"i,ation;*esign Question 1Advanced !rocess controllers #APC% are in (ide use no( and are re!orted to be .uite success&ul. 6he ne2t advance in controls a!!ears to be on+ line or real ti"e o!ti"i,ation #R6O%. I& (e i"!le"ent a R6O &or the FCC$ ho( large an i"!rove"ent should be e2!ected' Over an APC and (hy' /hould the R6O be li"ited to 7ust the FCC or e2!anded to include other units' *AR*05C On both our crude and FCC &ractionators$ (e have i"!le"ented R6Os on to! o& the advanced !rocess control syste"s. In both cases$ (e have seen additional bene&its above and beyond the APC controls. e have seen a range on that$ de!ending on so"e o& the o!erating conditions in the unit. But I (ould &eel sa&e in saying you are going to get at least about a third o& (hat you reali,ed (ith the APC$ (hen you !ut the R6O online. hy (ould you (ant to do that' ell$ econo"ic bene&it and the R6O gives you so"e non+ linear res!onses$ (hich you do see in the "ain colu"ns$ because o& the heat integration issues (ith the !u"!around circuits and the &ractionation issues that go along (ith that.

6he .uestion is (hether you (ant to i"!le"ent on a !lant+ (ide basis versus a unit basis. Iou cannot get a(ay &ro" being interde!endent (ith the rest o& the re&inery$ es!ecially (hen you have "ulti!le hydrotreaters &eeding a FCC. /o the R6O does need to look at (hat is ha!!ening around the unit. One o& the issues that (e have gotten into (ith ours is trying to set the shado( !ricing and the actual !ricing &or the &eeds and !roducts based on the !lant+ (ide "odel$ and not 7ust on (hat you (ould calculate o&& o& a !ricing sheet. e (ould actually do runs each (eek (ith the MP to "ake a deter"ination o& (hat !rice (e (ant to !ut into those syste"s. /o overall$ (e have been very ha!!y (ith the R6Os (e have i"!le"ented. /60FA5IC A!!lying R6O to a FCC (ill yield additional bene&its over those received &ro" APC only. 6he e2tent o& the bene&it (ould be de!endent on the setu! o& the !rocess unit but in general$ one could e2!ect )8+ 1>F bene&its over those achieved by a unit using strictly APC. As one broadens the sco!e o& the R6O syste"$ the bene&its (ill increase as long as there is a clear ob7ective &unction &or the o!ti"i,er. In a FCC e2a"!le$ the riser$ regenerator and the alkylation !lant "ight be logical units to include. 6he addition o& R6O (ould yield a )8+ 1>F bene&it to each !art and an additional 1>+ )>F bene&it (hen R6O is a!!lied to all three !arts si"ultaneously. Considering R6O over the (idest !ossible area including ulti"ately$ re&inery+ (ide o!ti"i,ation is clearly the ob7ective in the long run. 6his a!!roach doesnEt a!!ear !ractical todayO ho(ever$ one should consider e2!anding the sco!e as (ide as !ossible given the ob7ective &unction re.uested by the o!ti"i,er. As an e2a"!le$ i& the o!ti"i,ation ob7ective is the .uality o& one o& the !roduct !ools$ then including all the relevant units e&&ecting that !roduct .uality in the o!ti"i,ation is re.uired. G0RR05HAMPC I basically agree. I think (e see that (e get "ost bene&it &irstly by going to *MC o!erations and then due to discussions on o!erating strategies o& R6OEs. hen you get to the stage o& going to "ulti!le units (ithin a single real ti"e o!ti"i,er you start seeing so"e serious returns on invest"ent. 6he only thing I (ould add about that is it is .uite "an!o(er intensive to "aintain such a syste". R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C 6he real bene&it o& advanced !rocess control #APC% largely de!ends on the ?co"&ort ,ones? o& the individuals o!erating the unit. 6o truly take advantage o& the APC syste"$ one "ust increase the o!eratorRs co"&ort ,one through !ro!er$ custo"i,ed o!erator training. M00 63RPI5 #As!en 6echnology%C An industry average bene&it &ro" installing R6O on a FCC is !robably around ->F. 6he !roble" (ith this average nu"ber is R6O is ty!ically very bene&icial or 7ust "arginally bene&icial. 5ot too "any units are going to be near that average. 6o deter"ine the !otential bene&its &ro" online o!ti"i,ation$ I strongly encourage re&iners to have a study !er&or"ed by so"eone (ho really understands re&inery econo"ics$ R6O$ and re&inery !lanning. Once the bene&its are de&ined$ t(o things can ha!!en. First$ a return on invest"ent can be calculated and a go;no+ go decision can be "ade. 6hen second$ i& the !ro7ect is a go$ the re&iner de&ines a basis &or designing an o!ti"i,ation strategy that "eets their !articular needs. 6he second !art o& that .uestion addresses the co"!le2ity o& the o!ti"i,er. APCs are ty!ically installed on a by unit basis. Control engineers can link the APCs together &ro" several units using bridges. But$ the co"!le2ity o& the o!ti"i,er should be dictated by the re&inerEs econo"ic and o!erations re.uire"ents$ and not by the battery li"its.

ROB0R6 M3*OMPH #/unoco Inc.%C I have t(o suggestions that (ill hel! you "a2i"i,e (hat you can reali,e &ro" an R6O a!!lication. 6ake the ti"e to convince yoursel& that the FCC technology used in the o!ti"i,er si"ulates your FCC unit res!onses$ es!ecially (hen it co"es to &eed .uality changes. I& necessary$ evaluate other si"ulators. /econdly$ identi&y the re.uired ty!es and &re.uencies o& strea" !ro!erty data re.uired to drive the si"ulator using on+ line analy,ers or through laboratory su!!ort. Account &or the incre"ental cost in your !ro7ect incentive calculations. 9. Feed and Product Quality Question 11 hat ty!es o& catalyst syste"s have been co""ercially !roven to reduce FCC gasoline sul&ur' hat level o& sul&ur reduction has been achieved' KA660C 6here have been several articles (ritten on the e&&ects o& conventional FCC catalyst !ro!erties on gasoline sul&ur content. 5PRA !a!ers AM+=-+ 88$ AM+=)+ 18 and AM+=)+ 1: contain "any o& the details o& various studies. In addition$ there have been ans(ers to this .uestion in several o& the !revious 5PRA QNA transcri!ts. I (ould like to res!ond to this (ith a brie& revie( o& this !ast (ork and an u!date (ith the "ost recently available in&or"ation. In general$ the "odi&ications that a FCC catalyst vendor can "ake to hel! "ini"i,e gasoline sul&ur are all directed at increasing the hydrogen trans&er activity o& the catalyst. 6hese !ro!erty changes include increasing the rare earth content$ (hich increases the ,eolite unit cell si,e$ or increasing "atri2 activity$ ty!ically via increasing the "atri2 sur&ace area or "atri2 alu"ina content. All o& these changes result in so"e reduction in gasoline sul&ur content. 6he e2tent o& the bene&its de!ends on the details o& the o!eration$ !articularly on the .uality o& the &eed. e have seen re!orts o& reductions that range any(here bet(een 1>F and ->F$ (hich have been attributed to these ty!es o& conventional "odi&ications$ either through changing the rare earth$ the "atri2 activity or !utting in a high "atri2+ activity additive !article. But (e think that &or the "a7ority o& those o!erations a 1>F to 18F reduction through changes in these conventional !ro!erties is "ore ty!ical. 6he do(nside o& the conventional changes ty!ically$ ho(ever$ can o&ten be a loss o& gasoline octane and an increase in the coke and &uel gas yields resulting &ro" the increased "atri2 activity. For the !ast several years$ Krace *avison has been involved in the develo!"ent o& ne( FCC catalyst technology that atte"!ts to !ush the gasoline sul&ur reduction envelo!e beyond that o& conventional FCC catalysts. Our gasoline sul&ur reduction technology !ackage$ (hich (e call K/RT$ has been tried co""ercially in over 18 re&ineries in 5orth and Matin A"erica and in 0uro!e over the !ast &ive years (ith great success. /ul&ur reductions o& u! to )8F have been de"onstrated in a variety o& o!erations using this !atented technology. More i"!ortantly$ since K/R is not based on conventional silica alu"ina catalyst technology$ these reductions have been "ade over and above those that are !ossible (ith changes in the conventional hydrogen trans&er characteristics o& the base catalyst alone. e currently have t(o di&&erent additive syste"s$ (hich o!erate via di&&erent "echanis"s. K/R+1 (as the &irst syste" introduced in 1==8 and$ to date$ it has been in about &ourteen re&ineries. Our latest technology is called K/R+1. It has been tried in three re&ineries to date. 6his ne( syste" re"oves sul&ur &ro" the &ull na!htha range$ as (ell as sho(ing so"e reduction in the MCO and slurry !roducts as (ell. *ata &ro" several co""ercial trials are available in our !roduct literature.

MAIOC Our "ost success&ul a!!lications have been (ith the use o& high rare earth and high "atri2 activity FCC catalyst in con7unction (ith nonhydrotreated &eed. e have several co""ercial data sets (ith those ty!es o& conditions sho(ing )8F to -8F gasoline sul&ur reduction. Mass balanced data sho(s that the sul&ur ends u! as H)/. 6he reduction in sul&ur is across the entire gasoline range. e have done detailed analysis$ (hich sho(s about <>F o& that reduction is due to highly accessible strong acid sites on the "atri2. High rare earth !rovides &or increased hydrogen trans&er to reduce ole&in + H)/ reco"bination reactions in the riser. For hydrotreated &eeds$ the sul&ur reductions are about hal& o& (hat is observed (ith non+ hydrotreated &eeds. e too$ have various additives &or reducing FCC gasoline sul&ur. Our latest generation additive$ R0/OMG0 :>>$ has been co""ercially tested in 5orth and /outh A"erica$ as (ell as 0uro!e. *AGI*/O5C In 1==8$ Montana Re&ining (as the &irst re&inery to evaluate an earlier version o& Krace *avisonEs gasoline sul&ur reduction additive technology. ith a base gasoline sul&ur level o& ->> !!" on a >.- (tF sul&ur hydrotreated &eed$ the re&inery reali,ed a 1)F reduction in the &ull range gasoline sul&ur. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C Catalyst "atri2 activity and its rare+ earth #R0% content !lay key roles in decreasing FCC3 gasoline sul&ur. 3MA /HA5H0R #Indian Institute o& Petroleu"%C FCC catalysts (ith higher hydrogen trans&er activity !roduce gasoline (ith lo(er sul&ur content. Catalysts containing rare earth e2changed y+ ,eolite or rare earth e2changed ultra+ stabili,ed y+ ,eolite or higher "atri2 activity are kno(n to !roduce lo( sul&ur gasoline. Kasoline sul&ur reduction additives are also kno(n to reduce sul&ur content o& FCC gasoline by 18 to -8F. 0GA5/ #I560RCA6%C e have seen reductions o& u! to ->F in total gasoline sul&ur (ith our botto"s cracking additive BCA+1>8. e have seen this (ith "any di&&erent ty!es o& catalyst in the FCC on a variety o& di&&erent &eeds. 6he !ercentage reductions that (e have seen$ ho(ever$ do see" to vary &ro" unit to unit$ and they do see" to be very de!endent on the &eed co"!osition to the FCC. e ty!ically e2!ect to see a reduction o& about )8F &or "ost FCC units. Question 18 hat shi&ts in !roduct sul&ur distribution have been achieved (ith ne( catalyst technologies' Ho( does this di&&er &or hydrotreated versus non+ hydrotreated &eeds' KA660C Product sul&ur distribution (ill be a&&ected by several &actors$ but !articularly by the distribution o& the &eed sul&ur co"!ounds$ and the e2tent o& hydrotreating o& the FCC &eed. Figure II+1 sho(s a ty!ical !roduct sul&ur distribution &or an average FCC &eed !rocessed in our circulating riser !ilot !lant. In general$ (e e2!ect to see &ro" )>+ 9>F o& the &eed sul&ur as H)/$ &ro" 1>+ )8F o& the &eed sul&ur in the MCO$ any(here &ro" 8+-8F in the slurry oil$ )+->F in coke$ and ulti"ately /OS$ and only about )+1>F o& the &eed sul&ur ends u! in the gasoline. 6his latter nu"ber is !ro!ortional to the .uantity o& ali!hatic sul&ur and alkylthio!hene s!ecies in the &eed.

Feed hydrotreating is "ost e&&ective at re"oving these ali!hatic sul&ur and alkylthio!hene s!ecies$ so youEd e2!ect a reduction in the a"ount o& &eed sul&ur re!orting to gasoline (ith &eed hydrotreating. 6y!ically 8+1>F o& the sul&ur in non+ hydrotreated &eeds goes into the FCC gasoline. For severely hydrotreated &eeds$ (here the ali!hatic sul&ur and alkylthio!hene content is dra"atically reduced$ this !ercentage is reduced to )+8F. Other &eed sul&ur co"!ounds$ such as "ulti ring+ ben,othio!henes$ !ri"arily re"ain in the cycle oil and slurry !roducts$ or beco"e coke. 6he K/RT technology$ (hich I described a &e( "inutes ago$ does change the ulti"ate dis!osition o& the !roduct sul&ur. In lab tests and co""ercial trials o& K/RT+1$ (e have seen reductions o& u! to 1>F in light cut na!htha sul&ur s!ecies$ (hich are !ri"arily thio!hene and C1+C) alkylthio!henes. e also have seen u! to )>F reduction in heavy cut na!htha sul&ur$ (hich are !resent as C-+C1 alkylthio!henes and thio!henols. 6he sul&ur that is re"oved ends u! as H)/$ and not as /OS. ith K/R+1$ (e have seen only "odest changes in the MCO or heavier !roducts. Ho(ever$ the &act that the MC5 sul&ur reduction is enhanced (ith this !roduct "akes it a good co"!le"ent to na!htha hydro!rocessing$ since this is ty!ically a!!lied to the heavier na!htha strea"s. In the case o& the "ore recent K/R+1 co""ercial trials$ (e have seen "ore uni&or" sul&ur reductions$ &ro" 18+ )8F$ across the &ull na!htha boiling range. e have also seen reduction o& 8+ 18F in both the MCO and slurry !roducts. Again$ the incre"ental sul&ur is re"oved as H)/$ and not /OS. MAIOC e &ind the ca!acity &or gasoline sul&ur reduction to be "uch higher &or non+ hydrotreated &eeds. In general$ &or non+ hydrotreated &eeds$ about 1>F o& the &eed sul&ur ends u! in the FCC gasoline$ and that dro!s to about 8F &or hydrotreated &eeds. Although sul&ur reduction occurs over the entire gasoline range$ the key &actors in reducing sul&ur &ro" the back end o& the gasoline are accessibility and acid site strength. Lust as (ith botto"s u!grading$ so"e "olecules$ such as substituted thio!henes$ ben,othio!henes and diben,othio!henes$ are too large to enter the ,eolite cage. 3se o& a "atri2 co"!onent (ith the a!!ro!riate !ore si,e P "eso!ores in this case$ in con7unction (ith very strong acid sites can "ake .uite a di&&erence. e have co""ercial data to su!!ort these clai"s$ (hich (e (ould be ha!!y to share. *AGI*/O5C Over the &irst and second .uarters o& this year$ our 5ava7o Artesia re&inery co"!leted a co""ercial evaluation o& K/R+1. ith )>F additive in the inventory$ the &ull range gasoline sul&ur (as reduced )>F &ro" a base o& 1=>> !!" on a GKO &eed. Additionally$ there (as a reduction in the MCO sul&ur o& 1>F+ )>F. ROB0R6 M3*OMPH #/unoco Inc.%C e have one location that !rocesses so"e hydrotreated &eed in its FCC3. Hydrotreated &eed yields a gasoline sul&ur to &eed sul&ur ratio that is about 9>F lo(er than obtained &ro" an unhydrotreated o!eration. 6he FCC o&&+ gas H)/ level is also lo(er (hen !rocessing hydrotreated &eed. One caution$ (hen evaluating hydrotreating or any other !rocess &or reducing gasoline sul&ur$ .uali&y the reductions (ith the gasoline end!oint that you are using. 6he !otential desul&uri,ation is highly de!endent u!on it and is critical (hen co"!aring your results (ith those re!orted &ro" other sources. Question 19 For daily FCC3 o!eration "onitoring and o!ti"i,ation$ (hat &eed !ara"eters can be used to best !redict !roduct yields' Ho( o&ten should (e test &or these !ara"eters'

MAIOC 6he &ollo(ing are considered basic &eed analyses by Ak,o 5obel and (ill cover "ost units. 6he &irst and "ost i"!ortant characteristic to "onitor is API gravity$ (hich gives you a general sense o& aro"atic carbon content. Mo(er gravity &eeds are generally "ore aro"atic. 6his test is si"!le to analy,e and should be run at least daily. /ince API gravity is a !ro!erty o& the &eed that is a used in "ost e"!irical correlations$ establishing an API database has !roven to be valuable on "ost units. e also reco""end &re.uent distillation analysis$ high te"!erature KC in this case$ es!ecially (hen resids are run on the unit. e think distillation should be done at least (eekly$ assu"ing the !roduct slate is !retty steady. e reco""end analy,ing &or total nitrogen at least (eekly. e use total nitrogen since the analysis see"s to be "ore reliable and correlate (ell (ith unit o!erations. Analysis o& re&ractive inde2 is reco""ended &or all gas oils. 6here is a re&lection "ethod &or dark &eeds (here the standard "ethod cannot be used. Correlations also e2ist to esti"ate re&ractive inde2 (hich are reasonably accurate u! to about ->F cracked stocks. Calibration o& the instru"ent is e2tre"ely i"!ortant and te"!erature control is critical &or accuracy. e reco""end "easure"ent o& concarbon in order to "ake delta coke esti"ates and e2!lain regenerator heat balance e&&ects. An interesting e2ercise is to !er&or" a concarbon balance around the FCC. As!haltenes also correlate reasonably (ell (ith this analysis. Finally$ &eed co"!osition$ is o&ten "issing or inco"!lete. Feedstock co"!osition$ that is crude ty!e$ correlates (ell (ith "any selectivity shi&ts observed on the FCC. hile not .uantitative$ it "ay be !ossible to .ualitatively correlate &eed co"!osition (ith unit u!sets and o!erating !roble"s. An e2tra analysis$ (hich is also very valuable is carbon distribution. 6his analysis classi&ies &eedstocks by the !ercentage o& carbon ato"s in various "olecular structures$ CA &or aro"atic rings$ C5 &or na!thenic rings and CP &or !ara&&ins. 6he "ost accurate "ethods &or "easuring carbon distribution are Mass /!ec and 5MR$ but there are also e"!irical correlations. 6he n+d+M "ethod$ A/6M *+-)-<+ <8$ is based on re&ractive inde2 #n%$ density #d% and "olecular (eight #M%. Finally$ an i"!ortant as!ect o& all this (ork is data validation. 6he !oint o& validation is not to dra( incorrect conclusions$ because o& !oor .uality data. e reco""end that all the variables you "easure be validated by cross+!lotting against API gravity P e2ce!t &or concarbon$ (hich is non+ linear against gravity. Cross+!lotting "akes it easy see outliers &ro" a linear correlation$ so you can decide i& those !oints need to be reanaly,ed or e2cluded &ro" the data analysis. For concarbon$ (e reco""end cross+!lotting against the =8F distillation !oint$ =>F distillation !oint$ or even :>F distillation !oint &or es!ecially heavy &eeds. PARHC e are "onitoring &eed API$ distillation #3OP H% CCR$ sul&ur and nitrogen to get o!ti"u " conversion rate o& <8MGF #3OP Conversion basis%. 6he &eed .uality changes very &re.uently because (e treat "ore than 8> kinds o& crude. /o (e have to analy,e &eed API every day and change the o!eration severity. hen &eed API is high$ (e increase cat to oil ratio to "aintain o!ti"u" conversion rate. Ho(ever$ the relation a"ong &eed API$ cat to oil ratio and conversion does not al(ays correlate (ith each other. And (e test other !ara"eters on a (eekly basis. /6I50/C

In addition to (hat has been "entioned$ (e run "etals (eekly using ato"ic absor!tion s!ectrosco!y. LO/0PH IM/O5 #Barnes N Click$ Inc.%C

I think one i"!ortant thing that !eo!le have to reali,e is that all o& these variables are good$ but you also need to be a(are o& (hether you are dealing (ith hydrotreated &eed$ virgin &eed$ or ther"ally cracked &eed. 6hat is es!ecially i"!ortant i& you are a re&iner that tends to s(itch its &eeds based on the o!eration o& other units or econo"ic !lanning !ara"eters. Because you can have &eeds &ro" di&&erent sources (ith al"ost identical !hysicals$ and they (ill behave di&&erently in the FCC3. MICHA0M MI6J50R #Myondell+ Citgo%C 6he only other !ara"eter I did not hear "entioned (as aniline !oint. Aniline !oint is an indication o& the a"ount o& aro"atics in FCC &eedstocks. Gariations in FCC &eed aniline !oint can be tracked against FCC yields. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

I also like to have the Re&ractive Inde2 and the hydrogen content o& the &eed. 6hese along (ith the UAPI give an idea o& the aro"aticity o& the &eed. As FCC is a hydrogen trans&er !rocess$ you 7ust cannot get a very high conversion &ro" a high aro"atic lo( hydrogen content &eed (ithout !roducing a lot o& coke. 6here&ore$ these nu"bers can hel! to e2!lain a lot so"eti"es$ !articularly i& you are running so"e heavy coker gas oil. 6hey can tell you ho( "uch o& it is in the &eed$ or ho( (ell the hydrotreater is doing (ith it i& it is being hydrotreated. It can also give a good indication o& the severity o& the coker o!eration$ i& they ha!!en to be &eeding any o& your slurry oil. A high Re&ractive Inde2 that kee!s going u! over several days (ould con&ir" that you are building a re&ractory slurry oil recycle loo! bet(een the FCC3 and the coker. Question 1: Ho( do you "a2i"i,e MO5 in an FCC3' KA660C 6his is a .uestion that has been asked be&ore #1=<= QNA 6ranscri!ts%$ and has been the sub7ect o& "uch discussion over the !ast 18 years. 6here are "any re&erences that discuss this to!ic in so"e detail. Once again$ the ans(er is ?It de!ends?. I (ould like to start by &ocussing &irst on the co"!onents in the gasoline that contribute to octane. In general$ the highest "otor octane value is contributed by C9+C= highly branched iso!ara&&ins and light C:+C= alkylaro"atics. On the &li! side$ nor"al or single+ branched !ara&&ins and heavy C<W ole&ins contribute the least to the octane !ool. /o any strategy to "a2i"i,e MO5 (ill be directed at "a2i"i,ing the &or"er$ and "ini"i,ing the latter. Ole&ins tend to !rovide good research octane$ but "oderate "otor octane$ so increases in these s!ecies tend to increase octane sensitivity #RO5+MO5%. Based on our latest &ield in&or"ation$ FCC MO5 ty!ically ranges &ro" :< to <-$ (hile RO5 ranges &ro" << to =9. Fro" an o!erational !oint o& vie($ the &irst variable that has a big i"!act on MO5 is the &eed .uality. In general$ at ?constant? o!erating conditions$ highly !ara&&inic &eeds tend to !rovide lo(er MO5 than aro"atic or na!hthenic &eeds. Ho(ever$ !ara&&inic &eeds tend to be "ore crackable and !roduce "ore na!htha !roduct$ and tend to !rovide "ore &le2ibility to increase severity to i"!rove octane. Hydrotreating essentially !u"!s "ore hydrogen into the &eed$ and there&ore$ tends to decrease MO5. Ho(ever$ a hydrotreated aro"atic &eed can be run at "ore severe o!erating conditions than its unhydrotreated counter!art$ (hich can recover the ?lost? MO5.

6he unit con&iguration and o!erating conditions also !lay a role. Higher riser te"!eratures result in higher ole&in contents$ (hich i"!rove RO5$ (hile not necessarily MO5. Also$ s(itching to a short contact ti"e ter"ination device (ill also increase the na!htha ole&inicity$ and hence RO5$ again not necessarily MO5. Both RO5 and MO5 increase (ith conversion$ so conditions that &avor higher conversion (ill also &avor higher MO5. Catalyst !lays another key role. Ho(ever$ there is not only one catalyst solution to MO5 "a2i"i,ation$ so catalyst selection de!ends greatly on the &eed .uality and base o!erating conditions o& the unit. 6he &irst knob that you (ill ty!ically hear a catalyst su!!lier discuss is rare earth content #or unit cell si,e or hydrogen trans&er activity%$ but this knob needs to be used (ith care. In units (ith relatively lo( starting octane$ decreasing ,eolite unit cell si,e (ill ty!ically increase both RO5 and MO5. Ho(ever$ since the gasoline ole&in content (ill increase the "ost in this case$ octane sensitivity (ill also increase. In contrast$ in a case (here an o!eration is starting at relatively high octane via high o!eration severity$ reducing catalyst unit cell si,e could actually back&ire$ as this (ill tend to increase ole&ins and reduce aro"atics$ (hich are good MO5 co"!onents. RO5 "ay increase$ but MO5 could stay &lat or actually decrease. It is actually !ossible to get very good MO5 &ro" an o!eration (hich !rocesses hydrotreated na!hthenic or aro"atic &eed (ith a high rare earth$ high unit cell si,e catalyst in con7unction (ith high riser te"!erature. 6hese conditions tend to &avor aro"atic &or"ation$ resulting in good "otor octane. Matri2 sur&ace area is another catalyst knob that can be turned. Increased "atri2 activity also ty!ically increases ole&ins$ resulting in increased RO5 and increased sensitivity. Finally$ another catalyst knob is the use o& a J/M+8 octane additive$ like Krace *avisonEs Ole&insPlusT or Ole&insMa2T. 6hese additives are very e&&ective at increasing gasoline octane by doing !recisely (hat I "entioned at the beginning o& "y ans(er. J/M+8 selectively re"oves nor"al or single+ branched !ara&&ins and ole&ins &ro" the gasoline range$ thereby concentrating the higher+ MO5 co"!onents in the gasoline. And it does this$ albeit (ith varying e&&ectiveness$ regardless o& the &eed .uality or hydrogen trans&er !ro!erties o& the base catalyst. Also$ the re"oved lo(+ MO5 gasoline co"!onents are concentrated as !ro!ylene and butylene in the MPK strea"$ !roviding &eedstock &or do(nstrea" alkylation and etheri&ication o!erations$ (hich the"selves !rovide high MO5 gasoline blend co"!onents. 6here&ore$ J/M+8 is a very e&&ective co"!onent o& any MO5 "a2i"i,ation strategy. MAIOC As Mr. Katte "entioned$ the biggest contributors to increased MO5 are aro"atics and highly branched ole&ins and !ara&&ins. I (ould like to cover so"e a!!roaches &or "a2i"i,ing the aro"atic and the isoole&in;iso!ara&&in content o& FCC na!htha. Mono+ aro"atics !roduce the highest MO5 values. A si"!le rule o& thu"b is that the MO5 increases by >.18 nu"bers &or every one nu"ber dro! in API gravity. Mo( gravity &eeds tend to be high in aro"atic "olecules$ (hich !ositively i"!act "otor octane. Running resid tends to increase MO5 as a result o& cracking heavy aro"atic ring structures into the gasoline boiling range. 6he aro"atic content o& FCC na!htha is in&luenced by high hydrogen trans&er rates as (ell. High nickel &eeds tend to !roduce higher MO5 due to the increased hydrogen trans&er rate i"!arted by the conta"inant nickel. O!erationally$ "a2i"i,ing riser outlet te"!erature and "a2i"i,ing catalyst circulation rates increase hydrogen trans&er rate. Motor octane ty!ically increases at a!!ro2i"ately >.)+ >.- MO5 &or every 1>UF increase in riser outlet te"!erature. Increased riser outlet te"!erature also increases cracking o& heavy aro"atics into the gasoline boiling range.

Catalytic solutions are available &or "a2i"i,ing the isoole&in and iso!ara&&in content o& FCC na!htha. Branched gasoline "olecules re.uire high silica to alu"ina ratio #/AR% ,eolites. 6hese ,eolites have the greatest stability and !roduce the highest concentration o& tertiary carbeniu" ions$ (hich are the inter"ediary ste! to !roducing branched "olecules in gasoline and MPK. A si"!le test to "easure the ca!ability o& a !articular catalyst to enhance !roduction o& branched "olecules is to calculate the ratio o& branched to linear "olecules in the butane !roduct strea". 6hat is$ isobutane !lus isobutene over nor"al butane !lus nor"al butene$ #iC1WiC1 A%; #nC1;nC1 A%. Maboratory testing indicates that silica to alu"ina ratios in e2cess o& 8.8 !roduce the highest content o& branched "olecules in the gasoline strea". 6he &ollo(ing ?Rules o& 6hu"b? are o&&ered to !rovide guidelines regarding "otor octane directional shi&tsC Feed .ualityC W >.18 MO5 &or every 1.> API reductionReactor te"!eratureC W >.- MO5 &or every 1>UF increaseConversionC W >.1: MO5 &or every 1 volF conversion increaseCat+ to+ oil ratioC W>.: MO5 &or every 1 C;O ratio increaseCatalyst activityC W > .1 MO5 &or every 1.> !oint increase in MA6Rare earthC W>.- MO5 &or every 1.> (tF decrease in R0 on catalyst G0RR05HAMPC /o"e years ago$ 3OP develo!ed a !rocess called L+cracking that took the FCC MCCO and severely hydrotreated it be&ore recycling it back to the riser. A!!arently the MO5 &ro" cracking this highly "onoaro"atic &eed (as <9. 3MA /HA5H0R #Indian Institute o& Petroleu"%C Feedstock .uality$ o!erating conditions and catalyst ty!e are three "a7or !ara"eters$ (hich a&&ects the MO5 o& FCC gasoline. Feedstock (ith higher aro"atics content is generally suitable &or FCC gasoline o& higher MO5. 6he FCC conversion is o& !ri"e i"!ortance &or boosting MO5 o& gasoline. At high conversion $ the gasoline is characteri,ed by a high aro"aticity and branching. O!erating FCC3 at higher cat;oil ratio to achieve higher conversion is bene&icial to increase MO5 o& gasoline. Ho(ever$ increased conversion at higher te"!erature contributes higher ratio o& ther"al to catalytic cracking and deteriorates the degree o& branching and is not bene&icial &or increasing MO5. For MO5 i"!rove"ent o& FCC gasoline$ ,eolite ty!e catalyst is needed (ith a high carbeniu" ion cracking activity to enhance iso"eri,ation and cycli,ation reactions. 6his can be achieved using ,eolites (ith a ho"ogenous activity distribution and a balance o& &ra"e (ork and not &ra"e (ork alu"ina co"bined (ith rare earth e2change. LO/0PH MCM0A5 #0ngelhard Cor!oration%C /o"e very co"!lete ans(ers have been given on the catalytic a&&ects. I (ould 7ust like to add one thing to that$ (hich is the &resh catalyst sodiu" content can have a "arked a&&ect on both RO5 and MO5. 6he lo(er you can get that$ s!eci&ically$ the ,eolytic sodiu" content$ that does hel! to i"!rove both the octane !otential o& the catalyst as (ell as the stability o& the ,eolite. :. Catalysts Question 1< Ho( do you o!ti"i,e catalyst !er&or"ance #conversion$ yield selectivity% against total catalyst cost #!rice$ "ake+ u! rate%' Ho( o&ten do you "ake this evaluation' G0RR05HAMPC First o& all$ there are t(o critical tools necessary to !er&or" any o!ti"i,ation studies. 6he &irst is good catalyst !er&or"ance data$ &ro" both !ilot !lant trials and co""ercial units. e have an

active testing !rogra" o& bench scale and !ilot !lant tests to !rovide catalyst !ro&iles. e also share actual unit data bet(een the )1 FCCs in the grou!$ covering a broad s!ectru" o& the vintage to catalyst &or a variety o& o!erations and technologies. 6he second critical tool is the good FCC si"ulation "odel. BP A"oco includes an ele"entary catalyst descri!tion in its FCC "odeling tool. 6his covers things like "at activity$ catalyst "akeu! rate$ anti"ony !assivation rate$ &resh catalyst !ro!erties$ rare earths$ ,eolytic sur&ace area$ "atri2 sur&ace area$ J/M 8 addition$ and catalyst additive !rocess. On to the actual o!ti"i,ation !rocess$ to truly gain "a2i"u " bene&its &ro" your !rogra"$ I believe there are t(o o!ti"i,ation cycles. 6here is &irstly the continuous !rocess o& o!ti"i,ing &or"ulation and addition on a crude by crude run and varying !rice set basis. 6he second$ "ore global issue$ deals (ith the !eriodic selection o& di&&erent catalyst technology. 5o($ the triggers &or this instigation o& this second !rocess "ay be a hard(are "odi&ication$ a long+ ter" substantial change in &eed .uality or re&inery econo"ics$ or &eeling that every eighteen "onths to t(o years because the catalyst vendors are doing substantial research and co"ing u! (ith things. Regarding long+ ter" o!ti"i,ation$ the ste!s in the catalyst selection !rocess that (e (ould ty!ically &ollo( is sho(n in Figure II+8. Iou can &ollo( through the !rocess yoursel&. I 7ust really (ant to !oint out on this is ho( critical the tools I talked about are &or this e2ercise. /electing a s!eci&ic catalyst technology is really only hal& the battle in the !rocess. 6he ne2t ste! is to o!ti"i,e 0CA6 "at &or unit o!eration. 6his is not i""ediately obvious as Figure II+9 de"onstrates. A s!eci&ic 0CA6 "at "ay be achieved by lo( additions o& a highly active catalyst$ or also by higher additions o& a lo(er &resh sur&ace area catalyst. 6he ty!e o& gra!h in Figure II+: needs to be generated (ith the "odeling tool$ and is heavily unit s!eci&ic. 5ote that the o!ti"u" "at "ay change &or each sur&ace area study$ so the sur&ace area range "ust be diverse enough to ensure you have identi&ication o& the true global o!ti"a. Having done this$ attention can no( be &ocused on short+ ter" o!ti"i,ation. At a cou!le o& our sites (here ty!ical crude slates last a !eriod o& a "onth to si2 (eeks be&ore changing to substantially di&&erent &eeds$ and (here (e kee! lo( inventories$ (e kee! t(o di&&erent technology catalysts and "odi&y the "i2 ratio o& these catalysts to best suit the &eed. For e2a"!le$ i& (e had a unit that (as running !eriod o& high concarbon &eed$ (e (ould kee! a lo( delta coke catalyst or high delta coke catalyst and "odi&y the blends o& each to best "aintain "a2i"u " charge rate to the unit (ithin the regenerator te"!erature constraints. *AR*05C On a !ractical basis$ on a daily a!!roach$ since (e are running average &eed rate and average &eed .ualities$ (e try to "aintain an average addition rate. 6here are certain keys (e (ill look at in the unit to tell us i& so"ething is changing$ such as regenerator te"!erature. Is it getting hotter or is it getting colder (ith the sa"e &eed$ the sa"e .uality' 6hat tells us (hether (e need to back o&& or increase additions. e (ill also (atch our e.uilibriu" catalyst analysis and see i& our sur&ace area is dro!!ing or the MA6 activity is dro!!ing. e have (orked (ith a su!!lier to increase or decrease the activity o& the &resh catalyst that (e add into the syste". hen (e do a "a7or analysis to look at (hether (e should be s(itching the overall catalyst &or"ulation$ that can be driven by things such as a "a7or change in the gasoline !ool re.uire"ents or a "a7or con&iguration change (ithin the re&inery. Beyond that$ i& (e do that kind o& catalyst analysis$ (e (ill get .uotes and esti"ates &ro" the di&&erent catalyst vendors. e have gone to the !oint o& having a third !arty do an inde!endent analysis &or us using a non+ linear si"ulator$ and then give us their thoughts on (hat they think the yield shi&ts are going to do. e !lug those into MP and

(e see (hat co"es back. KA660C As a FCC catalyst co"!any$ (e see" to s!end the better !art o& our lives trying to ans(er this sa"e .uestion$ but usually &ro" the !ers!ective o& ?Ho( do I convince this re&inery that !aying "ore &or a !re"iu" catalyst is actually going to !ay back 8 to 1> ti"es the !rice di&&erence in i"!roved yields'? It really co"es do(n to the di&&erence bet(een catalyst costs$ (hich are very easy to &ind on the PNM sheet versus yield bene&its$ (hich (e have heard already today "ay so"eti"es be harder to &ind. 6he ans(ers that have already been given have been !retty co"!rehensive. 6he ability to (eigh the di&&erences bet(een catalyst !er&or"ance and !rice really de!end on the ability to "ake a reasonable deter"ination o& the yield characteristics$ short o& !utting the catalyst into the unit. 6hose re&ineries like BP that have access to evaluation laboratories can do a good 7ob o& !redicting;"odeling yield di&&erences !rior to !utting a catalyst into their o!eration. 6hose re&ineries that do not have access to laboratory testing ty!ically (ill go to outside labs$ or (ill actually rely on the catalyst vendors to su!!ly data co"!aring di&&erent catalyst yield characteristics. Ho(ever$ it beco"es di&&icult to co"!are a!!les to a!!les (hen you are co"!aring yield !redictions bet(een di&&erent su!!liers. 6he best scenario is to have a close relationshi! (ith the su!!liers$ "aintaining an ongoing dialog so that the su!!liers can res!ond to changes in &eed .uality by !roviding catalysts better suited &or the ne( &eed. In either scenario$ it is not a bad idea to reevaluate your current catalyst at least bi+ yearly$ since ne( develo!"ents are al(ays being "ade in FCC catalyst !ro!erties$ and !roduct values change &airly regularly. e (ould also suggest "ore &re.uent evaluation o& your catalyst !ro!erties i& you have a "a7or change in &eed. In our o!inion$ catalyst cost$ (hile a big nu"ber on the re&ineryEs PNM sheet$ still is a relatively s"all cost co"!ared to the !roduct value (hich can be gained by !icking the right catalyst$ or lost by !icking the (rong one. At the risk o& sounding sel&+ serving$ catalyst !rice should only be an issue (hen you are convinced that t(o catalysts (ill give identical !er&or"ance in your unit. 3n&ortunately$ because FCC catalyst is a big e2!ense ite"$ it is ty!ically one that is under a lot o& !ressure (hen cost+ cutting "easures are i"!le"ented$ like earlier this year. Ho(ever$ (hen the re&iner chooses catalyst based solely on !rice$ they can lose signi&icant revenue &ro" lost !roduct value$ resulting &ro" non+ o!ti"i,ation o& the FCC unit. HRI/H5AC Our syste" sounds a lot like the one described &or BP A"oco. MAIOC e also concur (ith the "ethods Mr. Gerrenka"! has described. I (ould 7ust like to add a &e( additional !oints. 6he unit engineer is e.ui!!ed and ready to consider catalyst &or"ulations (hen &ully ar"ed (ith a clear understanding o& the econo"ics$ re&inery goals and unit constraints and is con&ident in the accuracy o& their FCC "odel. In general$ the FCC should be run u! against as "any li"itations as is !ossibleC air blo(er$ (et gas co"!ressor$ slide valve di&&erential !ressure$ etc. O!erating variables should be &ully o!ti"i,ed be&ore consideration is given to vary catalyst &or"ulation. /u&&icient laboratory testing o& any catalyst &or"ulation using &luidi,ed bed testing or !ilot riser units is reco""ended. Activity and selectivity vectors should be in!ut into the unit "odel to deter"ine !ro&itability o& any catalysts being considered. Per&or"ance o& the catalyst can begin to be "easured at 18+ 8>F change out &or &or"ulations !ri"arily a&&ecting yield selectivities.

A!!ro2i"ately <8+ =>F change out is re.uired to observe the &ull e&&ect o& re&or"ulations designed to i"!rove octanes. A rigorous evaluation o& catalyst !er&or"ance is reco""ended u!on change out. e agree (ith Mr. Gerrenka"! that the catalyst vendor should be rigidly held to the !er&or"ance !rediction they have "ade. Another ite"$ (hich has not been "entioned$ is o!ti"i,ation o& the catalyst addition rate. In that regard$ (e reco""end ste! tests be done$ in (hich you !lot unit !ro&itability against catalyst addition rate #in lbs;bbl% and see (here the curve starts to &latten. O!eration at this !oint usually ensures the greatest return on invest"ent &or each !ound o& catalyst added to the unit. PARHC e ad7ust catalyst "ake+ u! rate to "aintain the "etal #nickel and vanadiu"% level under :$>>>(!! " on 0CA6. At this level$ (e can increase the conversion rate to the o!ti"u " level #<8 MGF$ over this !oint (e have (et gas co"!ressor bottleneck due to "uch higher dry gas !roduction% by changing cat to oil ratio. In case o& high 0CA6 "etal level over :$>>>(!!"$ catalyst activity dro!s so .uickly that (e cannot "aintain o!ti"u" conversion rate although (e increase cat to oil ratio. e do not increase the catalyst "ake+ u! rate to reduce 0CA6 "etal level under 8X9$>>> (!!" because (e could not &ind any bene&its &ro" it. e believe "a2i"i,ing charge rate and conversion u! to reaching "echanical constraint o& the unit (ill give us "a2i"i,ed gross "argin and the catalyst cost does not govern the o!erating econo"ics. hen (e need to evaluate the catalyst !er&or"ance or to change the o!erating condition$ (e do si"ulation &re.uently (ith Pro&i"atics at &irst and second !ilot !lant #riser ty!e% testO &inally (e i"!le"ent the result to the !lant. Regarding ne( catalyst evaluating$ (e use the !ilot !lant data instead o& vendor !ro!osals. e select the catalyst (hich ranks &irst in gross "argin increase #yields and !ro!erties catalyst cost%. /6I50/C e use the sa"e syste" Mr. Gerrenka"! does (ith 7ust a cou!le o& changes. e do an evaluation on each catalyst roughly once every t(o years. e do not trust the vendorEs data$ so (e use AC0 and MA6 data &ro" our RN* to "ake a decision on (hich catalyst to choose. e (ait until about :>F changeout be&ore (e do the &ull revie( o& unit !er&or"ance. One other thing$ (e use a kinetic "odel to evaluate changes during a catalyst run due to &eed .uality variations. 6hat hel!s us (ith daily o!ti"i,ation o& the unit. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering$ Inc.%C 6he catalyst usage and desired MA6 is very unit s!eci&ic. Catalyst deactivation is a &unction o& unit severity such as the regenerator bed te"!erature$ reactor+ stri!!er !er&or"ance$ ho( (ell the air and s!ent catalyst are distributed and the a"ount stea" in the regenerator. Additionally$ internal catalyst attrition (ill also !lay a key role in the &resh catalyst addition rate. Kenerally$ i& the regenerator bed te"!erature li"it has not been e2ceeded$ it is bene&icial to use higher+ activity catalyst to achieve higher conversion$ !rovided no co"!ro"ise is "ade regarding the catalystRs !hysical !ro!erties$ such as attrition !ro!erties. For conventional gas oil cracking$ the nor"al catalyst addition rate ranges bet(een >.1 to >.) !ound !er barrel o& &resh &eed. /CO66 A5*0R/O5 #Hoch Petroleu" Krou!%C 6here are t(o a!!roaches to try and get an ans(er to this !roble". One (ay is to try it on the

co""ercial unit and then go back and analy,e the data. 6he second a!!roach is to use a yield !rediction "odel to get the ans(er. 0ach o& these a!!roaches has !roble"s. Analysis o& the unit o!erating data &its the needle in a haystack analogy. In !re!aring a res!onse to this .uestion (e (ent back and looked at o!erating data &ro" our "ost stable o!erating unit. Koing back to the start o& the year (e have 1<< "aterial balances on this unit. 6he standard deviation o& the "ass balance closure (as about >.9 (tF$ (hich (e think is &airly good. e also track the unit !ro&itability using a constant set o& !rices. 6he standard deviation o& the !ro&itability calculation (as Q=$>>> !er day. 0ven using a : day rolling average the standard deviation (as Q:$8>> !er day. 5o( ho( do you see (ith any certainty the e&&ect o& W;+ 1 ton !er day #Q18>>;day% o& catalyst addition given the &act that there is this "uch noise in the data' e have one e2!erience (here (e got too aggressive trying to cut catalyst e2!ense and de&initely hurt the yields &or a cou!le o& "onths be&ore (e could recover. 6he yield loss (as large in co"!arison to the catalyst savings. Raising catalyst activity by either u!!ing addition rates or using a "ore active #and ty!ically "ore e2!ensive% &resh catalyst &or"ulation obviously &avors higher conversion. On the other hand the higher catalyst activity (ill increase delta coke (hich in turn heats u! the regenerator and decreases cat+ to+ oil. 6hus the actual e&&ect on conversion de!ends on the balance bet(een catalyst activity and delta coke. 6he "agnitude o& the delta coke res!onse de!ends on #a"ong other things% the !er&or"ance o& the &eed ,one and the stri!!er (ith reduced catalyst circulation. 5either o& these areas is (ell understood or easily "odeled. Our e2!erience (ith the co""ercially available "odels is that they tend to love catalyst activity + so "uch so that the results are not al(ays believable. /o (hat do (e do' e tend to look at the unit o!erating data$ 0CA6 analysis and "odel results and "ake an educated guess as to the right addition rate. For a given catalyst &or"ulation (e nor"ally (atch the sur&ace area and try to hold that in a range (hich (e think is right &or that unit. Regenerator te"!erature and MCO gravity are a cou!le o& the key !ieces o& o!erating data that enter into this analysis. Kiven the tools (e have to (ork (ith (e &eel this is the best (e can do at the !resent ti"e. In reality the catalyst addition rate o!ti"u" is !robably &airly &lat. /o i& you !ut a reasonable a"ount o& catalyst in the unit$ the cost o& being (rong "ay be a "atter o& only a &e( hundred dollars !er day. In the big sche"e o& things there are ty!ically "ore !ro&itable activities to (ork on. e change the addition rate target at "ost a &e( ti"es !er year. e think that it "akes sense to buy higher activity &resh catalysts &or our units as these see" to o&&er the "ost activity !er dollar s!ent. e think that once !er year is enough to discuss catalyst cost (ith your su!!lier or get co"!etitive bids. FRA5H 0MGI5 #Coastal Catalyst 6echnology%C 6o o!ti"i,e catalyst !er&or"ance$ and i"!rove M/CC yields$ Coastal has installed an AC6 unit in their 0agle Point$ 5e( Lersey re&inery. AC6$ Advanced Catalyst 6echnology$ also kno(n as the son o& *0MI6$ !rocesses :.8 tons !er day catalyst sli! strea" o& e.uilibriu" catalyst$ (hich is returned to the regenerator (ith i"!roved catalyst !ro!erties. MA6 testing is already veri&ied$ though the AC6$ reducing the coke$ hydrogen and dry gas selectivities o& the :.8 tons !er day o& recycled catalyst. Ho(ever$ the regenerator contains 18> tons o& catalyst. 5o "easurable i"!rove"ents o& M/CC yields are antici!ated until the end o& the year. LOH5 BMACH #HBC Pro&i"atics%C 6he ans(er to this .uestion is easily solved (ith a !rocess si"ulator again i& you have a catalyst database. e reco""end trying to do this on a daily basis. I& you have a good si"ulator$ you can do this in about t(enty "inutes. Basically$ (hat you are trying to study is catalyst activity versus "akeu! rate$ and ho( that i"!acts on econo"ics versus unit constraints.

e have done nu"erous studies and (hat (e &ound out is the catalyst vendors are correct P "ost re&iners do run too lo( o& a MA6 activity. hen they say you should add "ore catalyst$ they are correct. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

Mr. *arden touched on this a little bit$ and I (ould like to !ut so"e "ore e"!hasis on it. 6here has to be a business reason &or (hy you (ant to change your catalyst$ and you have to decide that &irst be&ore you even start in this !rocess. 6hat re.uires so"e real soul+ searching$ so"eti"es. I& there is no co"!elling business reason$ you can save yoursel& an a(&ul lot o& e&&ort in this area. Or you can si"!li&y the decision by reducing it to so"ething that "aybe is not even directly !ro&it driven. As Mr. Anderson !ointed out$ that (ith so "uch noise in the data$ you "ight be (asting a lot o& "an+ hours looking &or that last incre"ental dollar o& !ro&it that you cannot see any(ay. My ans(er to Question )9 during the Keneral /ession veri&ies (hat Mr. Anderson has said$ as (ell as su!!orts the co""ent &ro" Mr. Black. A good basis and a good "odel can be very use&ul$ and can deter any un(arranted or s!urious initiatives in this regard. Iou have to establish (hat your goals are$ (hat you are trying to attain$ set !riorities on the"$ and "aybe even !ut so"e dollar a"ounts on so"e o& those !riorities. /o"e good reasons &or changing catalyst "ight have to do (ith the o!eration o& the FCC or its !roduct .ualities$ such as a higher delta coke catalyst &or a unit (ith a catalyst circulation !roble"$ or a high rare earth catalyst &or a unit &eeding a high nitrogen gas oil$ or &or reducing the ole&in content o& the light cat gasoline. 5o( you have a good solid basis to be using (hen you are evaluating various catalysts. IMMIAM H055I5K #Conoco$ Inc.%C I have to agree (ith a lot o& things that Mr. Katte said. e do regular evaluations o& FCC catalyst in the lab AC0 cracking unit$ and have had good success (ith that. e try to do it at least every t(o years$ or (hen "a7or changes occur on the unit. I have &ound that the econo"ic bene&its o& s"all yield i"!rove"ents generally (ill over(hel" any !ractical di&&erences in the catalyst cost$ even those yield shi&ts that are barely discernible (ithin the nor"al unit o!erating variations. For your unit you can easily calculate the econo"ic value o& a s"all increase in conversion$ say 1F$ and using that$ calculate (hat a catalyst cost increase (ould be to break even. Question 1= hat catalyst technologies e2ist &or units e.ui!!ed (ith "odern riser ter"ination designs' KA660C 6here are a nu"ber o& di&&erent "odern ter"ination designs available$ including close+ cou!led or closed+ cou!led cyclones$ .uick disengagers (ith riser .uench$ and o& course$ "illisecond cat crackers. All have one thing in co""onC they atte"!t to "ini"i,e the e2tent o& !ost+ riser cracking to reduce coke and dry gas yields and reduce ole&in saturation. Ho(ever$ the do(nside to this reduced catalyst;oil contact ti"e is a loss o& conversion$ (hich needs to be overco"e by changes to the o!eration$ like increasing riser te"!erature (hich (e discusses earlier$ or by changes in the catalyst !ro!erties. 6here are a nu"ber o& catalyst &a"ilies that the catalyst su!!liers "arket &or these ?short contact ti"e? o!erations. Ho(ever$ in our o!inion$ 7ust as (ith al"ost everything else in cat cracking$ there is really no single best catalyst solution &or all short contact ti"e o!erations. In AM+=9+ )9$ Krace described a revie( o& catalyst design &or short contact ti"e o!erations$ and also a revie( o& our 0CA6 database$ co"!aring catalyst !ro!erties &ro" short contact ti"e o!erations (ith those &ro" "ore conventional o!erations. e recently u!dated that (ork$ and IEd like to brie&ly revie( the results here. 6o date$ there have been over 1>> reva"!s co"!leted that have involved so"e sort o& a design change to reduce !ost+ riser cracking. e looked at 19 such reva"!s (hich have occurred during

the !ast )+- years$ and co"!ared the 0CA6 !ro!erties o& the catalyst inventory be&ore the change versus today. e &ound that$ on average$ 0CA6 activity increased by about - MA6 nu"bers$ 0CA6 rare earth increased by about >.: (tF$ "atri2 sur&ace area increased by about : ");g$ (hile ,eolite sur&ace area (as relatively unchanged. 6hose (ere the average !ro!erty changes. Ho(ever$ the details are "ore interesting. 6he !re+ reva"! versus !ost+ reva"! activity change &or the individual units varied &ro" bet(een +1 to W= MA6 nu"bers. 6he "atri2 sur&ace area changes ranged &ro" +)8 to W-> ");g$ (hile the ,eolite sur&ace area changes varied &ro" +9> to W-> ");g. 0CA6 rare earth level changes varied &ro" bet(een +>.8 and W).8 (tF. In general$ (hile "ost o!erations changed the catalyst !ro!erties by increasing MA6 activity$ ty!ically through increasing rare earth content and ,eolite and;or "atri2 activity$ there (as no one best catalyst solution &or all o!erations. 6his can be seen in Figures II+= and II+1>. Figure II+= sho(s the 0CA6 MA6 activity &or all units (orld(ide$ segregated bet(een ?short contact ti"e? and ?conventional? o!erations. As you can see$ the average MA6 activity &or the short contact ti"e units is ty!ically )+1 MA6 nu"bers higher than &or the conventional o!erations. Figure II+1> sho(s the ,eolite+ to+ "atri2 sur&ace area ratio &or the sa"e 0CA6 sa"!les. In this case$ there is very little di&&erence bet(een short contact ti"e and conventional o!erations. Obviously$ &eed .uality issues !lay a "a7or role in catalyst decisions &or short contact o!erations$ 7ust as they do &or conventional o!erations. A balance bet(een ,eolite and "atri2 activity needs to be "aintained in order to achieve o!ti"u" conversion and !roduct selectivity$ and no single set o& catalyst !ro!erties (ill best o!ti"i,e every o!eration. In general$ &avorable catalyst !ro!erties &or /C6 o!erations include high activity$ coke selective "atri2 activity$ high activity !er unit o& sur&ace area$ and good hydrother"al stability$ es!ecially in a high "etals environ"ent. HRI/H5AC One unit that (e recently reva"!ed$ has a ne( reactor. It has the vorte2 se!arator syste" in it. It (orks e2tre"ely (ell. ith &airly lo( regenerator te"!eratures$ a clean &eed #severely hydro!rocessed%$ (e "aintain very high MA6 nu"bers$ :8 W in that unit. MAIOC A key co"!onent o& reduced contact ti"e is an increased di&&usion li"itation. e have seen "any FCC units that bene&it$ not only &ro" an increase in catalyst activity$ as !reviously "entioned$ but also i"!rove"ents in !article accessibility. Ak,o 5obel has develo!ed a !ro!rietary "ethod &or "easuring accessibility$ (hich (e (ould be ha!!y to a!!ly to your e.uilibriu" catalyst. Particle accessibility is also critical in units (ith very high e.uilibriu" "etal levels #5i$ G$ Fe$ 5a$ N Ca%. 6hese "etals$ es!ecially certain &or"s o& iron$ tend to &or" a crust over the sur&ace o& the !article and li"it di&&usion o& the hydrocarbon into the active sites. Ak,o 5obelEs Filtrol catalysts e2hibit the highest accessibility o& any catalyst on the "arket$ and that hel!s e2!lain (hy Ak,o 5obel su!!lies the "a7ority o& the units running very heavy &eedstocks$ that is$ units (ith concarbon levels over 8 (tF. <. Fractionation Question )> Ho( !revalent is the utili,ation o& !acking #both structured and rando"% in the FCC &ractionator and associated gas !lant' hen are high ca!acity trays a !re&erred reva"! o!tion' Assu"ing no degradation in &ractionation !er&or"ance$ (hat ca!acity increases "ight one e2!ect' HRI/H5AC e have used grid !acking in the botto" circulation section o& our "ain &ractionators &or "any$

"any years. e also have t(o &ractionators that are co"!letely !acked. One (as a reva"!$ because the original &ractionator (as undersi,ed$ and the other (as a ne( unit$ built co"!letely !acked. One o& the drivers is lo(er !ressure dro!$ (hich$ o& course$ leads to higher ca!acity i& you are (et gas co"!ressor li"ited. PROOP/C e have seen ty!ical ca!acity increases o& 1>F to 18F$ !otentially u! to ->F. Hoch has t(o &ully !acked &ractionators. Pine Bend o!erates at 18> b!d !er s.uare &oot o& to(er area$ (ith a &ully !acked &ractionator at a relatively high !ressure. G0RR05HAMPC e &avor structured !acking in the &ractionator &or the reason that Mr. Hrishna (as talking about$ basically$ so you do not have to touch your (et gas "achine. ith the develo!"ent o& the high ca!acity trays$ (e &eel that they are !robably a better reva"! o!tion &or the gas !lant se!aration colu"ns$ i.e.$ the isobutani,ers and de!ro!ani,ers. For the absorbers$ (e tend to look &or rando" !acking as the o!tion &or reva"! on these colu"ns$ because it is too high a !ressure$ generally$ &or construction !acking. Iou get so"e &oa"ing issues. BRIA5 AMB0R6 #Hoch+ Klitsch%C /tructured !acking has debottlenecked over :> Main Fractionators (orld(ide$ including ) &ully !acked &ractionators o!erated by Hoch Petroleu" Krou!. High ca!acity trays can increase ca!acity 1> + 18F$ (hile !acking can !rovide u! to a ->F increase in ca!acity vs. conventional trays. High ca!acity trays are !robably the best ans(erC i& the unit has su&&icient (et gas co"!ressor and air blo(er ca!acityO in short colu"ns #i& height cannot be increased%O or e2tra ca!acity &or !acking not needed #trays are usually less e2!ensive%. I& co"!ressor li"ited$ the - to 8 !si !ressure dro! reduction ty!ically reali,ed (ith !acking (ill tend to &avor that route. High ca!acity trays are the !re&erred debottleneck &or gas !lant debutani,ers$ de!ro!ani,ers and deethani,ers. 6hey "aintain the high e&&iciency o& conventional trays (hile increasing ca!acity )8F. Be&ore the advent o& high ca!acity trays$ rando" !ackings (ere success&ully used to debottleneck gas !lant colu"ns #!articularly the absorbers%$ (ith 18+ ->F higher ca!acity. As discussed in last yearRs session$ rando" !acking is lo(er !ressure dro! and there&ore less &oa"ing than trays$ (hich is advantageous in absorber services. 6he e&&iciency o& rando" !acking decreases as ca!acity increases. A rando" !acking retro&it is likely to cost "ore than high ca!acity trays$ es!ecially i& the colu"n has intercooling. /tructured !acking has had very &e( success&ul a!!lications in the FCC3 gas !lant and should be avoided (hen reva"!ing the FCC3 gas !lant. It can be used in the absorbers (hen no other device can achieve the needed ca!acity$ at the e2!ense o& lo(er e&&iciency. /CO66 . KOM*05 #Process Consulting /ervices$ Inc.%C

FCC "ain &ractionators have used structured !acking &or "ore than 18 years and grid has been used in the !u"!arounds &or "ore than -8 years. Many FCC "ain colu"ns have been reva"!ed (ith only !acking and associated internals. 6here are no trays. Ca!acity increases u! to )8+ -> F are !ossible. A !acked FCC "ain colu"n (ill have 1.> !si or less o& !ressure dro!. Mo( colu"n

!ressure dro! reduces (et gas !roduction &or a given reactor o!erating !ressure. In so"e cases$ !acking reduces the (et gas co"!ressor load enough to avoid co"!ressor "odi&ications. Question )1 Ho( do you "a2i"i,e the ole&in content #C)A$ C-A% in FCC o&&gas' (hat are the best "ethods to recover the ole&ins' KA660C Many re&iners !roduce light ole&ins &or do(nstrea" !etroche"ical o!erations. 6he !redo"inant ole&in !roduct is !ro!ylene. 0thylene+ containing o&& gas is also sold;trans&erred to !etroche"ical o!erations in a nu"ber o& cases. Pro!ylene "a2i"i,ation is very straight&or(ard. J/M+8 additives$ like Ole&insMa2T$ can !roduce very high levels o& !ro!ylene in ty!ical FCC o!erations. 0thylene "a2i"i,ation is a di&&erent story. 0thylene is !redo"inantly a ther"al !roduct$ (hereas !ro!ylene and the heavier ole&ins are !redo"inantly catalytic !roducts. 6here&ore$ di&&erent variables co"e into !lay (hen atte"!ting to "a2i"i,e ethylene. *uring the 1==9 QNA /ession$ Ian Lackson o& BP discussed (ork that they had done e2a"ining the i"!act o& a range o& variables on ethylene yield. 6hey looked at riser outlet te"!erature$ reactor !ressure$ cat+ to+ oil ratio$ catalyst !ro!erties #like J/M+8 and rare earth%$ &eed .uality and catalyst;oil contact ti"e. 6hey concluded that the only signi&icant variable on ethylene !roduction is riser outlet te"!erature$ and that ethylene yields o& u! to 8 (tF (ere !ossible at e2tre"ely elevated te"!eratures. In the Lanuary 1)$ 1==< ONKL$ /tone N ebster described the o!eration o& the *CC !lant in Rayong$ 6hailand. 6he *CC !rocess di&&ers &ro" FCC in that the reactor is run at lo(er !ressures$ and there is a substantial a"ount o& cracking (hich takes !lace !ost+ riser$ (hich leads to enhanced ethylene #and other dry gas% yields. In that article$ actual co""ercial ethylene yields o& 8 (tF are re!orted at a 1>1>U F reactor te"!erature$ along (ith 1:.1 (tF !ro!ylene. e have conducted "any laboratory evaluations in our circulating riser !ilot !lant$ looking at the e&&ects o& te"!erature and catalyst co"!osition on light ole&in yields. e have been able to !roduce u! to 18+ 1< (tF !ro!ylene via the !ro!er co"bination o& &eed$ catalyst and high levels o& J/M+8 additives$ under ty!ical$ albeit high te"!erature$ o!erations. e have seen levels this high on a variety o& &eeds. O& course$ it (ould take .uite a bit o& co"!ressor ca!acity to ca!ture all o& that !ro!ylene (ith the associated increases in other MPK co"!onents. As &or ethylene$ (e have also seen that increasing riser te"!erature to high levels can dra"atically increase ethylene yield$ by - ti"es going &ro" =:>U F to 1>8>U F. O& course$ "ethane and ethane also increase by large a"ounts. Ho(ever$ (e have also seen reasonable increases in ethylene !roduction via the introduction o& high levels o& Ole&insMa2$ our high J/M+8 content additive. For e2a"!le$ at constant riser outlet te"!erature o& =:>U F$ "oving &ro" > to 19 (tF Ole&insMa2 in the circulating inventory doubled the ethylene yield$ (ithout the dra"atic increase in ethane and "ethane seen (ith riser te"!erature increases. 3sing the co"bination o& high riser te"!erature #1>8>U F% and high Ole&insMa2 content #-) (tF%$ ethylene yields o& - (tF (ere achieved in this study. As a result$ J/M+8 see"s like a viable o!tion$ (hen used in co"bination (ith riser te"!erature to get &airly substantial ethylene increases in ty!ical FCC o!erations. As &or econo"ics$ as long as MPK ole&in values are higher than the value o& the gasoline that you (ill lose$ light ole&in "a2i"i,ation is a viable FCC strategy. /e!aration o& ethylene &ro" &uel gas is a very real challenge$ and a large cost ite"$ re.uiring cryogenic se!aration. Ho(ever$ I do kno( o& at least one !lant that !rovides untreated o&& gas to a nearby !etroche"ical co"!le2$ and are !aid based on the ethylene content o& the strea". MAIOC hen is it econo"ical$ and

0thylene &ro" the FCC is a result o& ther"al cracking P thus all the conditions that enhance ther"al cracking (ill increase ethylene yield. 6he o!erational changes available to the re&iner (ith the greatest i"!act include "a2i"i,ing the riser outlet te"!erature #1>)8UF or higher%$ "ini"i,ing the cat+ to+ oil ratio$ and "a2i"i,ing the riser "i2 ,one te"!erature. Catalytic o!tions include "ini"i,ing the hydrogen trans&er rate through reduced rare earth concentration and reducing the activity o& the circulating inventory through lo(ered catalyst addition rates. Conversion should be gained through ther"al "eans rather than catalytic. 0ach o& these "easures increases the entire dry gas yield as (ell. Maboratory testing indicates that J/M+8 has "ini"al i"!act on ethylene yields. Pro!ylene is created through both catalytic and ther"al !ath(ays. 0nhancing !ro!ylene yield is there&ore achieved through "a2i"i,ing riser outlet te"!eratures and cat+ to+ oil ratios together (ith an o!ti"i,ed catalyst &or"ulation. Jero rare earth catalysts (ith high ,eolite+ to+ "atri2 ratio are reco""ended. 6he use o& J/M+8 is also strongly reco""ended. Mini"i,ing hydrogen trans&er rates is essential. /tate o& the art &eed no,,les and riser ter"ination devices (ill "ini"i,e undesired ther"al cracking !roducts. Increased yield o& light ole&ins "ay re.uire debottlenecking and;or e2!ansion o& (et gas co"!ressor and light ends recovery syste"s. 0thylene can be recovered in the ethylene !lant recovery section$ or in a se!arate recovery train$ such as a lo(+ !ressure recovery syste" #MPR%$ !atented by ABB Mu""us. Pro!ylene can be recovered in the FCC gas recovery section. 6o increase !ro!ylene recovery e&&iciency$ one could consider recycling the overhead gas &lo( o& the deethani,er back to the gascon$ i& ca!acity !er"its. Additional chilling ca!acity "ay also be an econo"ic o!tion. G0RR05HAMPC 6he only !oint I (ould "ake is that (e have one unit that runs greater than ==F !ro!ylene recovery. /CO66 . KOM*05 #Process Consulting /ervices$ Inc.%C

Higher reactor !ro!ylene !roduction "akes it "ore di&&icult to "aintain recovery in the absorber. 6y!ically$ !ro!ylene is !roduced at the e2!ense o& gasoline. Mo(ering gasoline !roduction (hile increasing C- and C1 ole&ins raises absor!tion re.uire"ents in the !ri"ary absorber. I& the FCC dry gas rate is held constant and gasoline yield is reduced$ the absorber !ro!ylene recovery (ill decrease. hile higher reactor ole&ins (ill increase total !ro!ylene yield$ the !ercent recovery (ill decrease unless so"e gas !lant changes are "ade. /!eci&ic o!erating changes that (ill hel! the gas !lant includeC

1.Ma2i"i,e the s!onge absorber o!erating !ressure to the (et gas co"!ressor li"itation. Increasing (et co"!ressor discharge !ressure (ill have a relatively s"all i"!act on the co"!ressor volu"e handling ca!acityO ho(ever$ it (ill increase the horse!o(er re.uire"ents. Higher o!erating !ressure i"!roves C- and C1 recovery. ).Mini"i,e the !ri"ary absorber lean oil te"!erature. -.Ma2i"i,e the !ri"ary absorber inter+ cooler heat re"oval. 1.Mini"i,e the stri!!er #deethani,er% reboiler duty to the alky &eed C) li"itations.

O!erational changes "ay not achieve the desired ole&ins recovery targets and the gas !lant "ay need to be reva"!ed. *e!ending on the unit li"itations$ increasing gas !lant li.uid handling ca!acity "ay be relatively chea!. At ti"es a (ater chiller or re&rigeration syste" is re.uired.

Question )) Ho( "any ther"ocou!les are located in the botto" #.uench% section o& the "ain &ractionator and ho( are they used to control coking and slurry !u"! around rates' /6I50/C In the t(o FCC3s I a" &a"iliar (ith$ (e have only one ther"ocou!le in the botto" section. In one FCC3$ it is located 7ust belo( the disk and donut or .uench section trays. On the other$ it is located on the botto"s !i!ing. Both are te"!erature controllers$ (hich reset the slurry circulation &lo( rate. e try to "aintain a "a2i"u " o& :>>@F on the botto" o& the &ractionator. 6hese are resid crackers$ and that hel!s us avoid coking u! the botto" o& the &ractionator. G0RR05HAMPC One other area (e care&ully "onitor is the te"!erature to !revent coking o& the &lash ,one !acking trays in the va!or e2iting the desu!erheating section. e have had bad e2!erience (here o!erators (ere reducing &lo( to the slurry !u"!around return distributor$ to chase higher and higher MCO cut!oints$ and as a result$ coked the bed. e ty!ically (ould not o!erate above :=9@F. Care "ust also be !aid to ensure the "ini"u " (etting rate o& this section is al(ays "aintained. PARHC e have only one ther"ocou!le in the "ain colu"n botto". 6o !revent coking$ (e "aintain the MCB te"!erature under 9<8U F by controlling the MCO dra( o&& rate and;or the .uench &lo( rate. *A5A MAIR* #Hoch + Klitsch%C Coking in the "ain &ractionator slurry section is controlled by li"iting the te"!erature o& the li.uid leaving the botto" o& the !u"!around ,one. A "ini"u " o& t(o and !re&erably three ther"ocou!les should be located at the botto" o& the slurry !u"!around bed or shed trays to "easure the li.uid te"!erature leaving the slurry !u"!around ,one. Our Pine Bend re&inery has t(o ther"ocou!les located in the va!or a!!ro2i"ately 9? belo( the slurry !u"!around grid bed. 6hey are shielded &ro" the li.uid by a hal& !i!e cover. 6hese average about 9=>UF (ith a s!read bet(een the t(o o& 8>UF$ indicating our !oor va!or distribution in the &eed ,one. I& these ther"ocou!les are re!resentative o& the va!or te"!erature$ (e are getting about ->>UF desu!erheating belo( the grid section. Coking o& the !u"!around circuit is controlled by .uenching the colu"n botto"s (ith !u"!around return li.uid$ and by li"iting residence ti"e. e control this te"!erature near 9<>UF using a sli!strea" &ro" the slurry !u"!around. e "a2i"i,e !u"!around duty to reduce colu"n loadings$ "aintaining a s"all a"ount o& MCO runback to the HCO !u"!around section. e do e2!erience coke &or"ation in the slurry !u"!around syste"$ and clean slurry !u"!around e2changers every 9+= "onths. Feed ty!e$ degree o& conversion$ li.uid and va!or distribution$ li.uid residence ti"e$ .uench distribution and catalyst carryover &ro" the reactor all a&&ect the rate o& coke &or"ation. 6he best guideline is to o!erate at te"!eratures that have historically been acce!table. Hoch+ Klitsch can !rovide reco""endations &or i"!rove"ents$ (hich "ay allo( &or higher te"!eratures and thus increased !roduct recovery. /CO66 . KOM*05 #Process Consulting /ervices$ Inc.%C

FCC reactor e&&luent enters the "ain colu"n at high velocity #1>>+ 1<> &t;sec% and it is su!erheated. 6he &eed is !oorly distributed to the desu!erheating section internals. hether

using shed trays$ disc and donut trays$ or grids$ "ulti!le 6IRs should be used above and belo( the desu!erheating section. 6his hel!s "onitor te"!eratures at several locations #not a single !oint%. /o"e re&iners o!erate the un.uenched "ain colu"n botto" te"!eratures above :9>UF (ithout !roble"s. Others have !roble"s (ell belo( this te"!erature. 6he s!eci&ic colu"n internals designs are a "a7or &actor. 6he "ain colu"n botto" o!erating te"!erature$ be&ore .uench$ is set by the MCO boiling range "aterial in the slurry. For a given colu"n o!erating !ressure #&ro" 1> to -> !si%$ the higher the MCO !roduct yield and end!oint$ the higher the un.uenched "ain colu"n botto" te"!erature. For a given unit$ there is so"e te"!erature at (hich the internals (ill coke. 6here "ay be "ore than a 8>UF te"!erature di&&erence bet(een these te"!eratures &ro" one unit to the ne2t de!ending on e.ui!"ent design. Feed .uality is also a &actor. Ho(ever$ e.ui!"ent design !lays a "a7or role in coking. LYH5 /G05*/05 #/hell Klobal /olutions 3./.%C e are o!erating around -> FCC3s around the (orld. Out o& the"$ I (ill say =8F o& the" are &ully trayed (ith our /hell Cal"ing /ection high ca!acity trays. 6he "ain reason (hy I love trays in "ain &ractionators is there is al(ays a lot o& de!osits and chlorides co"ing in$ so regularly internal (ater (ashing has to be done. 6his is di&&icult to do success&ully (ith !acking$ es!ecially in that !art o& the colu"n. hen (e go &urther do(nstrea" our recti&ying absorbers are designed (ith /hell HiFi Cal"ing section trays. 6hese are very good &or such a &oa"ing and di&&icult three !hase se!aration in this service. 6he rest o& the gas !lant is also a relative high !ressure o!eration and there&ore (e a!!ly our high ca!acity trays. 6o ans(er this .uestion$ (e e.ui!!ed one o& our FCC3 "ain &ractionators (ith &our ther"ocou!les do(n in the &eed ,one. e tried to do a scienti&ic check on ho( actually the desu!erheating section (orked. My e2!erience (as$ (ell$ kee! it to one. 3se the other three 7ust to look at$ but con&usion is great do(n there. /CO66 /60BBI5/ #Consultant%C As regards the installation o& additional ther"ocou!les$ I think the engineer in all o& us delights in having additional data$ or those additional data !oints. In this "atter$ ho(ever$ one should be !re!ared &or une2!ected results$ (hich "ay not necessarily re!resent a !roble". I (ould caution against li"iting a unit solely on the basis o& one high te"!erature a"ongst several$ as there are other &actors that contribute to coking$ as "entioned in the other res!onses. 6he e2!erience &actor cannot be understated. A good set o& "onitoring and !rediction tools (ill allo( the o!erator to !ush the unit against a constraint in this area and still "ini"i,e the risk o& !reci!itous coking. /!eci&ically$ t(o tools have been used (ith good success in a unit that has had a history o& !roble"s in botto"s coking. Online data "onitoring !er"its real ti"e calculation o& heat trans&er coe&&icients and &ouling &actors in the slurry !u"!around heat e2changers. 6hese results are trended and &urther$ alar"ed &or rate o& change on this unit. Additionally$ (ith !ro!er &lo( and te"!erature instru"entation in the slurry !u"!around$ the bubble !oint o& the bulk slurry leaving the desu!erheating ,one can be a!!ro2i"ated by si"!le heat and "aterial balance. 6his has been incor!orated as a constrained variable in the APC controller$ allo(ing "a2i"u " MCO !roduct recovery (hile running close to the "a2i"u " allo(able bubble !oint. 6he target "a2i"u " bubble !oint is deter"ined and ad7usted according to e2!erience$ (hich is gained e2!eri"entally$ based !ri"arily on &eedstock co"!osition$ &ouling &actor res!onse$ and the yield o& coke solids retrieved &ro" the slurry !u"! suction strainers. Question )hen increasing ca!acity to the FCC3$ (hen does the inlet velocity to the "ain &ractionator beco"e a !roble"' Ho( is this overco"e'

PROOP/C Inlet velocity beco"es a concern at 1>> to 1-> &!s. At these values$ severe va!or "aldistribution can occur in this section$ resulting in coke &or"ation or da"age in the sheds or grid. 6he e2act break!oint de!ends on to(er s!eci&ic conditions and on the height bet(een the inlet no,,le and the slurry !u"!around section. 6he !roble" can be overco"e by !roviding ade.uate distance bet(een the inlet no,,le and the slurry section$ increasing a &ouling resistant &eed device to i"!rove va!or distribution$ or installing a larger &eed no,,le. One o& our Cor!us Christi FCCEs has a "ain &ractionator inlet velocity o& 118+ 1)8 &!s. 6his unit has shed trays (ith a high o!en area slo!ed collector belo( the trays to distribute the va!or. 6he other Cor!us FCC has a "ain &ractionator inlet velocity o& 1-> to 11> &!s (ith grid in the slurry !u"!around. 6his unit has no va!or distributor but has about t(o no,,le dia"eters s!acing bet(een the &eed no,,le and the botto" o& the grid. 5either o& these units has e2!erienced !roble"s (ith coking or da"age. HochEs Pine Bend "ain &ractionator o!erates above 1<> &!s (ith no va!or distributor. In both o& the last turnarounds$ (e have &ound da"age to the botto" o& the slurry bed that (e attribute to the high inlet velocity #Figure II+11%. In the last turnaround$ the da"age (as severe and re.uired rein&orce"ent o& a!!ro2i"ately 18F o& botto" layer o& grid to ensure (e could "ake the ne2t turnaround cycle. e did not see any grid coking$ ho(ever$ and this grid has been in service &or eight years. e !lan to "odi&y the bed and either install a larger no,,le or a va!or distributor ne2t turnaround. G0RR05HAMPC I think (e have !robably been a little luckier than Hoch but (e are usually li"ited by so"ething else be&ore a no,,le inlet velocity beco"es an issue. 6y!ically$ it is either (et gas co"!ressor ca!acity or "ini"u " slide valve di&&erential. 6he only other co""ent I (ould "ake on !rocessing resids$ you .uite o&ten &ind the line !ressure dro! stabili,es a&ter about si2 "onths$ because the increasing velocities$ as the coke is gro(ing on that trans&er line$ starts to s!all o&& the coke$ and you hit a constant !ressure dro! through the line. HRI/H5AC e (ould like to see the reactor trans&er line velocities at least over 1>> &!s to try and "ini"i,e coking. But the colu"n designers usually like to see inlet velocities around :> &!s or less$ es!ecially i& (e have !acking in the botto"s !u"!around section. I "entioned a &e( "inutes ago that (e have grid !acking in "ost o& our &ractionators. And so$ one o& the (ays to solve this dile""a P (e have done it in a cou!le o& !laces P is to s(age the !i!e dia"eter u! at the entrance to the colu"n$ so that you can have your cake and eat it too. /CO66 . KOM*05 #Process Consulting /ervices$ Inc.%C

Reva"!s have increased the &eed velocity to 1<> &t;sec or higher. Ga!or distributors have been used success&ully. 6he design "ust be si"!le and have no areas (here oil can coke due to high residence ti"e. 6here have been several instances (here va!or distributors have coked and caused shutdo(ns. In so"e cases$ va!or distributors have o!erated &or "ore )> years (ithout coking. *A5A MAIR* #Hoch+ Klitsch%C Be care&ul about s(aging u! the reactor va!or line at the "ain colu"n &eed no,,le in order to control velocity. Our e2!erience is that you have to !rovide several !i!e dia"eters do(nstrea" o& any change in dia"eter in order to get signi&icant bene&it be&ore entering the to(er. Other(ise$ the va!or distributor inside the to(er is your best bet.

Question )1 hat e.ui!"ent or o!erational "odi&ications are needed to run 8 years versus 1 years' G0RR05HAMPC 6his is very si"ilar to a .uestion (e had in the !revious session. All the !oints that (e raised be&ore are valid P ensure the e.ui!"ent is (ell designed and identi&y the constraints and !ublici,e the" (ell. A key area is turnaround ins!ection and re!air by .uali&ied FCC e2!erts that are looking to identi&y !roble" areas$ identi&y root causes o& &ires and "ake a!!ro!riate re!airs. Online unit !er&or"ance "onitoring is also key. 6ry and introduce so"e sort o& unit health (atch "onitoring re!ort that looks at "aybe -> key indicators on a continuous basis. One &inal area (here run shortening events can occur$ certainly in "y e2!erience$ is during startu! o& the unit or (here you have had to cut &eed or sto! catalyst circulation due to so"e other event or so"e e"ergency. I strongly reco""end that o!erators do not try to !ush &eed back into the unit right a(ay. I !re&er to see the" let the unit sit there (ith the slide valves closed and the torch "aintaining regenerated te"!erature until (hatever issue that caused the !roble" is resolved$ and then they co""ence startu! as !er nor"al controlled "ethod$ (ith the docu"ented !rocedure in &ront o& the". PROOP/C e run Pine Bend at a 1 to 1.8 year turnaround cycle. 6his last turnaround$ (e re!laced the air grid. e had an old$ bare stainless steel air distributor$ and it (as beco"ing critical !ath to &i2 it. e !ut in a ne( 3OP re&ractory covered distributor. e are likely to re!lace our regenerator cyclones ne2t ti"e$ and (ill look at thicker he2 "esh to handle erosion &or a longer !eriod o& ti"e. Other than that$ (e do not think (e have "uch holding us back &ro" a &ive year run. LO/0PH IM/O5 #Barnes N Click$ Inc.%

Regarding going 8 years versus 1$ on so"e o& the units I have (orked (ith$ (e (ould be ha!!y to go 1. But$ one thing that is very i"!ortant is to "ini"i,e the u!sets on the unit during the run$ es!ecially those that involve te"!erature s(ings$ such as very short &eed outages. FCC3Es are sensitive to da"age caused by te"!erature cycles. I did a nu"ber o& studies so"e ti"e back and discovered that units that had un!lanned shutdo(ns + (here they actually had to bring the unit do(n$ o!en it u! and "ake re!airs + (ere &re.uently units (ith nu"erous non+ shutdo(n u!sets. 6his (as also true o& "any units (here scheduled turnarounds overran the original schedule and budget. In these cases$ the da"ages (ere o&ten caused by re!eated ther"al cycles due to the u!sets. 0* I5 60550I #Marsule2;Buell Cyclones%C 6he only co""ent I (ould have$ i& you really (ant to run &or &our or &ive years$ consider having the cyclone "anu&acturer design your cyclones rather than your !rocess licenser or your engineering co"!any. I think$ i& I re"e"ber rightly$ the cyclones (ere one o& the t(o "a7or reasons &or shutdo(ns$ the other being rotating e.ui!"ent. I think (e really can hel! you$ i& you (ill 7ust give us a chance. Question )8 hat are the kno(n or !otential sources o& ra!id and large iron de!osition #other than gradual and continuous accu"ulation &ro" &eed% that could introduce iron to the FCC3 o!erating syste"' G0RR05HAMPC A!art &ro" the nor"al a"ount o& iron that "ay be in the crude$ and hence !ossibly in the FCC &eed$ there are t(o other !ossible sources o& iron that I a" a(are o&. 6he &irst is .uite obviously$ corrosion !roducts &ro" any(here &ro" the (eld head to the FCC no,,les. High na!hthenic acid

containing &eeds are o&ten the cul!rit and care&ul attention "ust be !aid to concentration versus te"!erature !ro&iles throughout the !lant. 6he other !ossible source o& ra!id increases in iron on an FCC catalyst is the stea" stri!!ing o& iron !yrite out o& the ground and &ields that are being stea" stri!!ed to enhance oil !roduction. 6his is beco"ing a !roble" in so"e o& the older &ields. KA660C I do not have "uch to add to (hat Mr. Gerrenka"! has already "entioned regarding !ossible sources o& &eed iron. In general$ the ty!e o& catalyst deactivation (e discussed in the !revious .uestion should only be an issue (hen soluble iron enters (ith the &eed. Particulate iron &ro" corrosion scale or e.ui!"ent degradation (ill increase the a!!arent Fe on 0CA6$ but should not signi&icantly degrade catalyst !er&or"ance. 6he only other co""ent I (anted to "ake is in re&erence to the catalyst !ictures in Figure II+1). 6he unit (hich !rovided the 0CA6 sa"!le sho(n in the "icrogra!hs sho(ed no detri"ental e&&ects o& iron$ even though there (as not a high ?accessibility inde2? catalyst in the inventory. /6I50/C e are also (orried about inorganic iron$ because (e have a Kul&tronic se!arator on our slurry syste"$ (hich (ill short out (hen iron is introduced. One source o& iron to (atch out &or is &ro" &lare dri! tanks. e have introduced lots o& iron into our FCC3s (hen (e reran the slo! &ro" these tanks a&ter a !lant u!set. HI5K I05 I35K #Ak,o 5obel Catalysts%C I (ant to elaborate "ore on the iron. e have indications that the &eed organic (as the cause "ore than scale iron. It is very di&&icult to take i""ediate action$ because "ost !eo!le rely on the assay and on the activity. Most o& the ti"e$ you do not see any change. Iou see the biggest change in the AB*$ (hich is a good indicator. I& you (ait &or the activity to dro!$ it is too late. 6hen you have a serious !roble". LO/0PH MCM0A5 #0ngelhard Cor!oration%C A co""ent again$ on the iron .uestion. e have seen evidence o& this nodule &or"ation on the catalyst &ro" all three o& the "a7or vendors. e have also seen si"ilar and even higher iron levels than that &ro" all three vendors. 6here are cases (here it does not occur. /o I a" not sure it is .uite as straight&or(ard as it "ay have been "ade out to be. Another co""ent is the change in the density that is been "entioned. e believe that is due to !acking in the laboratory AB* tests$ because o& the change in the sur&ace characteristics (ith the nodules. e have not seen any evidence o& at least "easurable !article agglo"eration or any correlation (ith any recorded circulation !roble"s in the units that have e2!erienced this. ith res!ect to the yield e&&ects$ again$ so"e !laces (e have seen it and so"e (e have not$ so (e are not sure that it is necessarily cause and e&&ect. As has been "entioned$ the source o& iron ty!ically is !rocessing a slo! strea" or so"e change in the &eed !ro!erties. hen that ha!!ens$ o& course$ there are a lot o& changes besides the iron. It "ay be coincidental. It "ay be an indicator$ but again$ not necessarily cause and e&&ect. e have seen a nu"ber o& these o!erations (ith high increases in iron$ high levels (ith the nodule &or"ation$ (here the only reason (e kne( anything about it at all (as (e sa( the density change on the 0CA6 sheet and (ondered (hy. 6here (as never any indication o& a loss in !er&or"ance. And again$ (e have seen this across several di&&erent ty!es o& catalyst technologies. RAI FM06CH0R #Ak,o 5obel%C

It is accurate in that (e also have seen "any units that have seen high iron levels and have not observed losses in conversion. One e"!irical observation (e have "ade is that "any units do not e2!erience losses in conversion or selectivity until the total "etals on the e.uilibriu" catalyst e2ceeds 18$>>> !!". 6his includes iron$ sodiu"$ nickel$ vanadiu"$ calciu"$ and !otassiu". LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

One !ossible source o& ra!id iron accu"ulation could be &ro" erosion o& the !ressure boundary due to &ailure o& the re&ractory lining. I (ould sure look &or any unusual hot s!ots in the reactor$ the regenerator and their associated stand!i!es.

6ARIQ MAMIH #Citgo Re&inery N Che"ical%C 6he .uestion I (anted to ask the !anel and the cat cracking consultants (e have here isC are you starting your (et gas co"!ressor be&ore you !ut the &eed in$ or a&ter(ards. Are you allo(ed &laring or not' Or have you changed your !rocedures to a &lareless startu!' In the old days$ one used to !ut the &eed in$ then start the (et gas co"!ressors. And (hat is it no(' G0RR05HAMPC e ty!ically back &uel gas into the gas !lant$ be&ore (e !ut the &eed in$ and (e (ill have the (et gas co"!ressor recycling u!on itsel&. PROOP/C e are doing the sa"e thing P the co"!ressor is running be&ore &eed is in. e have very aggressively reduced &laring over the last year$ and (e are no( &laring 7ust a &e( hours !er "onth. HRI/H5AC I kno( (e (ere (orking on &lareless startu! a &e( years ago. M0 FR0*0RICH/O5 #Chevron%C

In res!onse to 6ari. MalikEs .uestion about &lareless startu!$ (e have one FCC unit (ith a ne( (et gas co"!ressor that (as installed 7ust a &e( years ago (ith all the right by!asses and control valves$ and a CCC #Co"!ressor Controls Cor!oration% !er&or"ance control syste" that (e do start u! be&ore (e !ut &eed in. On that unit$ (e are able to achieve a &lareless startu! "ost o& the ti"e. On other units (e start the (et gas co"!ressor and have it slo( rolling$ but do not bring it on line until a&ter &eed is in. e are$ ho(ever$ looking at u!grading the control syste" on a cou!le o& our other units so (e can bring the co"!ressor u! to s!eed !rior to &eed+ in and reduce &laring during startu!s. /ince the "olecular (eight o& the &uel gas available to run the co"!ressor on !rior to &eed+ in is usually signi&icantly lo(er than nor"al (et gas$ there are - alternatives &or bringing the co"!ressor u! to o!erating s!eedC 1% O!erate (ith the by!asses o!en and the second stage discharge block valve closed until &eed is introducedO )% /!ike the &uel gas (ith !ro!ane or butaneO or -% Reduce the deethani,er$ and !ossibly the &uel gas$ !ressure enough that the co"!ressor can circulate through it. hich o& these alternatives is used de!ends on the "olecular (eight o& the gas$ the ca!abilities o& the individual co"!ressor$ and the by!asses and controls that are available.

MA R05C0 MACILA5 #3OP MMC%C /ince about 1==1$ all o& the ne( 3OP FCC unit co"!ressors have been e.ui!!ed (ith all the bells and (histles$ as Mr. Frederickson says. One o& the issues (ith a &lareless startu! is (ith gas "olecular (eigh. Many ti"es the re&inery &uel gas does not have enough "olecular (eight to satis&y the co"!ressor surge curve and generate enough gas con unit !ressure. In this case$ the co"!ressor (ill not be able to run on auto control and so"e &laring "ay be re.uired. Ho(ever$ i& the gas is heavy enough &or nor"al co"!ressor control$ (e can achieve a &lareless startu!. One co""ent I (ould also like to "ake on the &ive year run$ is that high cyclone velocity is the natural ene"y o& a long run. /o i& you are being !ushed by "anage"ent &or higher and higher through!uts and you o!erate (ith <> W &!s cyclone inlet velocities$ the !robability o& success o& a &ive year run is !retty lo(. G0RR05HAMPC On the &lareless startu!$ you are right about the &uel gas being too lo(. it (ith butane !rior to backing &uel gas into the gas !lant. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C e ty!ically (ould s!ike

Regarding &lareless start u!s$ I had been able to !er&or" the" at a re&inery in northern 5e( Me2ico t(enty years ago by having the (et gas co"!ressors on line and circulating through the &uel gas syste" !rior to &eed in. I !re&er &or(ard &lo( &ro" the gas !lant through the &uel gas syste" and back to the co"!ressor suction through the "ain colu"n overhead receiver rather than 7ust on total s!illback control$ because this hel!s to !urge the "ain colu"n and gas !lant o& any air that esca!es &ro" the regenerator (hile circulating catalyst to heat u! the reactor. B. Coking Question )9 hat are coke !roducing re&ineries doing to "ini"i,e dust e"issions$ in !articular during the loading o& trucks and rail cars' BIMM/C 6he !ublic e2!ectation &or the environ"entally sound handling o& !etroleu" coke is ra!idly rising$ (ith dust being the !ri"ary concern. Hoch Carbon Inc.$ the !etroleu" coke "arketing and handling division o& Hoch Industries$ has recently built$ and no( o!erates$ (orld class !etroleu" coke handling &acilities &or /hell Martine, #0.uilon% in 5orthern Cali&ornia$ "ore s!eci&ically the Bay Area. 6he Coke handling &acilities include both in+ re&inery !etroleu" coke handling as (ell as related dry bulk ter"inaling assets re.uired to transload !etroleu" coke onto ocean vessels. Petroleu" coke is delivered &ro" the re&inery to the ter"inal via sealed$ roll to!$ botto" du"! trailers. 6he in !lant syste"s Hoch built and no( o!erate includeC

4Bridge crane &or re"oval o& !etroleu" coke &ro" coker !it. 4Crushing and conveyance syste"s to te"!orary stocking location. 46otally enclosed !etroleu" coke storage (ithin the re&inery. 46otally enclosed ra!id truck loading syste". 4High !ressure truck (ash to "ini"i,e dust e"issions (hile in transit.

Hoch hel!ed !ioneer the use o& solid roll to! versus tar! covered trailers in the Bay Area to address co""unity concerns regarding truck s!illage and dust. 6he ter"inal assets includeC

40nclosed truck unloading syste" (ith high !ressure truck (ash. 4Concrete do"es to !rovide totally enclosed !et coke storage. 46ube conveyors that !revent any dust e"issions &ro" conveyors. 4*ustless .uadrant shi!loader.

For their e&&orts Hoch Carbon Inc. has been recogni,ed as the "ost environ"entally sound handler o& !etroleu" coke in the (orld. Carol Coy$ *e!uty 02ecutive O&&icer$ Cali&ornia /outh Coast Air Quality Manage"ent *istrict$ in re&erence to Hoch CarbonEs Bay Area &acility saysC ?6his &acility a!!ears to be the best o& its ty!e in the (orld. 6hey have reduced the !otential &or &ugitive e"issions to a level that others should e"ulate.? In general the industry is &ollo(ing Hoch Carbon Inc.Es lead and installing enclosed storage and transloading #truck$ rail$ vessel$ loading% syste"s in environ"entally sensitive or !rogressive areas. 0MMIO66C e are also &a"iliar (ith re&iners that have installed s!ray (ash syste"s at their truck and rail loading &acilities. O& course$ this e.ui!"ent is used to s!ray a (ater (ash on the coke contained in the truck or rail car !rior to its e2it &ro" the re&inery. 6he (ater (ash is used to reduce the a"ount o& dust that is generated by the coke during trans!ort. 6hese syste"s can also be aug"ented (ith che"ical additives. 6he additive is diluted in the (ater (ash. As the coke in the vehicle is s!rayed$ the (ater and additive s!reads across the coke and !enetrates into the sur&ace o& the coke. As the (ater eva!orates$ the additive is le&t behind in the &or" o& a crusty "atri2 coating on the sur&ace. 6his "atri2 that &or"s on the sur&ace is e&&ective at reducing the a"ount o& dust generated by the coke during the trans!ort. 6he additive has de"onstrated substantial i"!rove"ent over the use o& a (ater (ash alone. HRI/H5AC e do use the che"ical ty!e that Mr. 0lliott (as re&erring to. e had a &airly bad dusting !roble" in one o& our cokers. 6hey no( use a (ater+ based hu"ectant su!!lied by a co"!any called Benetec. 6hey actually s!ray this on the coke on the belt on the (ay &ro" the !it to the storage$ as o!!osed to in the trucks that Mr. 0lliott (as re&erring to. I understand that the dusting !roble" has been contained very nicely. /60FA5IC Moading &acilities are enclosed and include a dust recovery syste" #baghouse% or (ater s!ray. /o"e locations have the coke storage &acility enclosed (ith trucks loaded &ro" inside the enclosure. 6he trucks are then (ashed be&ore they leave the area to !revent dust being carried out o& the storage area. 6ruck covers have been e"!loyed to reduce coke dust (hen in transit. /i"ilarly$ rail cars are being loaded &ro" enclosed coke silos to !revent dust &ro" leaving the area. At one location$ the coke is !ressed or &or"ed in the railcar to reduce dust. ater has been used &or years as a (ay to su!!ress dust (hen trans!orting green cokeO also$ "ore e2!ensive !oly"er coatings have been used on larger coke !iles that are e2!osed to the (ind. Question ): hat is the highest coker &eed CCR that can be !rocessed reliably in a coker' /60FA5IC /o"e o& the heavy sour crudes co"ing out o& Canada$ Me2ico and /outh A"erica yield resids that have CCRs that are around -> (tF. Others are no( !rocessing or !re!aring to !rocess &eeds$

(hich have a CCR o& greater than -8F. 6he !roble" (ith these high CCR &eeds is one o& coking !ro!ensity$ (hich can reduce the charge heater run length. 6he use o& *istillate Recycle 6echnology allo(s these very high as!haltene &eeds to be !rocessed in the delayed coker (hile achieving reasonable run lengths in the coker charge heater. *AR*05C At MCR$ (e have t(o cokers. One has been online &or about thirty years. 6he other has been online &or about t(o and a hal& years. 6he older coker is a higher !ressure unit (ith dru" !ressures u! in the -> !ound range. 6he ne( coker has dru" !ressures o& about 18 !ounds. e have seen concarbons that run in the neighborhood o& about --F on the ne( coker$ because o& the Gene,uelan crude slate that (e run. /o"e o& the individual crudes that (e have run have CCRs as high as -9$ but because (e blend the resids together o&& the t(o crude units$ the overall blend has only been as high as --. Ies$ (e have seen &oa"ing !roble"sO (e have seen coke &or"ation !roble"s in the heatersO and (e have seen !roble"s (ith shot coke &or"ation. M. M. Hu"ar #Indian Institute o& Petroleu"%C 6he coker &eed CCR a&&ects the &urnace run length. As the te"!eratures are high in the coker &urnace$ as!haltenes !reci!itation "ay take !lace in the reactor tubes i& the CCR o& the coker &eed is high. 6his results in &aster coke de!osition on the (alls o& the tubes. 5or"ally this ty!e o& !roble" co"es (hen short residue is the coker &eed (ith "ini"u " recycle stock. 6his a!!roach is ado!ted (hen the ai" is to u!grade the residual &ractions and "a2i"u " li.uid yield is recovered. IIP has (orked on the !ilot !lant (ith a &eedstock having CCR value about )>F (t. Based on the data o& this study a re&inery unit is being installed (hich (ill be co""issioned shortly. 1. Mechani,ed Reliability Question )< Regarding coke dru" integrity$ !lease co""ent onC

4Ho( long have dru"s been in service' 4 hat "etallurgy is used' 4Have you conducted laser scans' 4Have you e2!erienced de&or"ation$ cracking or corrosion' 4*o you "onitor dru" de&lection during coking;decoking o!erations'

PROOP/C e have &our cokers$ sho(n in Figure II+1-. 6he dru"s range in age &ro" si2teen years to &orty years. /i2 o& these dru"s have been laser scanned three ti"es since 1==8. 6he other t(o (ere scanned in 1==< &or the &irst ti"e. Corrosion has not been an issue. e do not "onitor dru" de&lection during service. e have "easured to! head de&lection during outages. 3sing the drilling structure as a re&erence !oint$ (e "easured the change in "ove"ent (ith ti"e. In 1==1$ (e co"!iled the in&or"ation and deduced that t(o o& our dru"s are leaning at the rate o& .>) to .>- inches !er year. FIK3R0 II+1ZPicture [

/60FA5IC Conoco currently has eight coke dru"s in regular coking service at three re&ineries (ith in e2cess o& 8>>> cycles on the". 6(o dru"s (ere installed in 1=9<O &our (ere installed in 1=<- and t(o in 1==). 6he dru"s installed in 1=<- and later are 1F Cr base "etal (ith 11>/ cladding$ (hile the older dru"s are C/ base "etal (ith 11>/ cladding. Conoco has !er&or"ed laser scans on al"ost all o& their coke dru"s$ and &eel that valuable in&or"ation can be obtained in !er&or"ing se.uential scans to "onitor changes in dru" condition. Ho(ever$ laser scans should not be used e2clusively to "onitor dru" condition$ but should only be considered as !art o& a dru" "onitoring !rogra" that also includes other non+ destructive testing$ such as acoustic e"issions. Corrosion has not generally been a !roble" in Conoco designed coke dru"sO they ty!ically see no "ore than 1 "il;year "etal loss in the 11>/ cladding. Most dru"s see" to su&&er &ro" bulges and cracks at so"e !ointO ho(ever$ Conoco has been able to i"!rove dru" li&e and integrity by a!!lying the kno(ledge gained through e2!erience to their dru" design "ethodology. 6hey have e2!erience (ith coke dru"s not designed using Conoco guidelines that began to see through+ (all cracks as early as 18>> cycles. In contrast$ they have a set o& dru"s that (as designed using Conoco guidelines that have yet to su&&er a crack or a!!reciable bulge a&ter "ore than 8>>> cycles. *ru" de&lection is not routinely "onitored as an o!erating variable during coking or decoking o!erations at Conoco re&ineries. *AMIC e 7ust re!laced our coke dru"s this su""er in the "onth o& Luly. Our coke dru"s that (e re!laced (ent in service in 1=:1. 6hey (ere carbon hal& "oly. e did e2!erience dru" de&or"ation and bulges do(n in the installation ring area$ 7ust above the knuckle o& the botto" tangent line. Mater on in the cycle$ (e e2!erienced cracking at the inter&ace line (here the cooling (ater sits. e re!laced the dru"s (ith ne( dru"s this su""er. 6hey are a 1.)8 chro"e "aterial "ade by /u"ito"o$ and they (ent into service in Luly. e currently do not "onitor &or dru" de&lection$ but (e are considering installing so"e (hat (e call gross de&lection "onitors$ so that (e can tell early on i& (e are going into (hat is called ?banana? &ro" channeling (ithin the dru" &ro" the cooling (ater. *AR*05C e have one set o& thirty year old dru"s$ the other set is t(o and a hal& years old. Both sets are lo( chro"e 1;) "oly clad (ith :;91 o& 11> stainless. Ies$ (e do laser scans. e also run the drill ste" do(n through the dru" (ith a video ca"era attached to it and do a visual internal scan using the video ca"era. e have e2!erienced de&or"ation. e have e2!erienced cracking$ es!ecially on the older unit. e had a lot o& shell to skirt cracking on all &our dru"s that re.uired e2tensive re!airs. e have had to cut (indo(s out (here (e had bulges. /o (e have "onitored so"e bulges$ and (e are still "onitoring so"e. e do not "easure dru" de&lection during coking$ at this ti"e$ either$ although (e are looking at that &or the &uture. HRI/H5AC e have three coke dru"s that have been in service since D9=$ D:) and D<-. 6hey are all carbon

hal& "oly "etallurgy$ and (e do laser scans in at least a cou!le o& those cokers. e$ too$ have e2!erienced de&or"ation$ bulging$ also$ as "entioned$ skirt to shell (ell cracking. e do not "onitor de&lection$ either. Question )= hat initial .uench (ater rate is used &or dru" cooling' and ho( does the (ater rate vary' *AMIC 6o establish our .uench rates$ (e did so"e stress "onitoring o& a cou!le o& dru" cycles in the early 1==>s. e have as an initial target$ 1>> bbl;hr to establish the blo( hole. I can tell you in reality$ it is closer to :>> to 1>>> bbl;hr$ but the target is 1>>. e then go into a ):8 r!" rate until (e reach the "a2i"u " g!" that they are using. 6he !rocess continues &or about &ive hours. e have instituted a control$ not a closed+ loo! control$ but it sho(s the o!erator that the a"ount o& va!ors that are co"ing o&& the dru" has decreased. /o$ i& he has "et three or &our criteria$ then he kno(s that the dru" is ade.uately cooled (ithout over+ cooling and killing blo(do(n. *AR*05C On coker 1$ (e basically shatter the botto" o& the coke bed by o!ening the .uench valve to 1>>F very .uickly$ and then shutting it over a !eriod o& about ) "inutes. 6hen (e ra"! the (ater u!$ basically$ on (hatever rate the blo(do(n syste" can handle$ so that (e do not go to &lare on our lo(+ line syste". 6hen (e ra!idly go u! to 1>>> g!"$ and overall that takes about si2 hours. On the other coker$ (e (ill ra"! u! to about 1>> g!" over &our hours$ and then (e (ill ra!idly go u! to 1>>> g!" until the dru" is &ull. 6hat also takes about si2 hours. Both units are li"ited by blo(do(n syste" !ressure$ so that is taken into account (hile cooling to avoid &laring. e basically have three built+ in .uench !rogra"s P slo($ "ediu" and long$ (hich are controlled through our 6*C ->>>. ater is basically ra"!ed u! on blo(do(n syste" !ressure in all three cases$ but the short cycle can take si2 hours. 6he longest one can take u! to eight hours. HRI/H5AC In all three o& our cokers$ the initial rate is lo( P less than )>> g!". In one case$ it is on &lo( control$ and (e ra"! it u! &ro" that !oint. 6he other t(o$ as "entioned$ are !retty "uch li"ited by blo(do(n back !ressure. 6he duration is bet(een &our and si2 hours. /60FA5IC As "any cokers as there are in the (orld$ there are di&&erences o& o!inion as (hat the initial .uench rate should be. /o"e re&iners are concerned (ith over+ stressing the dru" and tend to o!erate the initial rate at a very lo( rate$ so that they do not cause di&&erential stresses bet(een the skirt and the shell. 6his is es!ecially a!!ro!riate (ith larger dru"s. Other re&iners are concerned about "aintaining !assage(ays through the coke bed and start (ith high rates$ (hich allo( the (ater to !enetrate the bed$ giving an access route &or the stea" and hydrocarbon. hat (e have seen is the initial rate varying any(here &ro" 8> to above ->> g!"$ de!ending on the !hiloso!hy o& the user. Associated (ith these rates$ you (ill see nor"al .uench durations o& any(here &ro" &our to si2 hours or "ore. 6he rate o& (ater addition is usually varied by control based on dru" !ressure or on a !redeter"ined ra"!+ u! rate. Question -> hat is the duration o& the .uench cycle

Ho( do you !redict or "onitor the coke accu"ulation #location and thickness% inside the overhead lines o& coke dru"s' HRI/H5AC Back !ressure and delta P in the line is really our !ri"ary indicator. PROOP/C A ga""a scan can deter"ine relative density across the !i!e$ and (hen !er&or"ed !eriodically it can veri&y the rate o& buildu!. Increased coke accu"ulation reduces ga""a+ ray !enetration. Co"!aring the relative density !ro&ile along the !i!eline identi&ies the coke locations. A baseline scan !er&or"ed (hen the !i!e is clean "akes it !ossible to "easure thickness o& the coke. hen distribution !attern or sha!e o& the coke on a !i!e cross section is concerned$ a CA6 /can at the concerned location can be used &or i"aging the density !ro&ile o& the !i!e cross sectional area. A -9> degree access to the concerned location is needed &or collecting the CA6 /can data. 5eutron Backscatter can also identi&y coke location$ based u!on di&&erences o& hydrogen concentration in the coke !hase and the gas !hase. By using this "ethod$ it is !ossible to observe coke attached to !i!e (alls and inter&aces bet(een solids and gases. /60FA5IC Conoco ty!ically o!ens and ins!ects the overhead va!or lines only at &urnace decokes$ (hich occur once or t(ice a year de!ending on location. Coke accu"ulation in the overhead !i!ing has not been a signi&icant !roble" other than in isolated instances. O!erating engineers ty!ically "onitor the !ressure dro! &ro" the to! o& each dru" to the &ractionator. Pro!er design and o!eration o& the overhead !i!ing .uench syste" (ill "ini"i,e the coke accu"ulation in the overhead !i!ing. *AMIC hen (e see back !ressure$ (e call the in&rared !hotogra!hy !eo!le$ and you can see the coke on the inside o& the lines that (ay. *AR*05C e also 7ust look at back !ressure and schedule the s!ools &or cleaning during the nor"al dru" cycle outages. ). O!ti"i,ation Question -1 hen handling shot coke$ (hat are the biggest !roble"s$ and (hat do you do to avoid the"' /60FA5IC 6he biggest !roble" shot coke !resents is its !ro!ensity to blo(outs and uncontrolled cave+ ins during decoking. Blo(outs and cave+ ins can i"!act unit on+ strea" &actors by &orcing reduced through!ut and e2tended cycle ti"es &or e.ui!"ent re!air and coke s!ill cleanu!. Because shot coke consists o& a lot o& loose$ discrete !articles rather than the "atri2 structure o& s!onge coke$ it can be di&&icult to .uench and drain dru"s co"!letely$ and the bed "ay also beco"e unsu!!orted (hen the botto" head is re"oved. Inco"!lete .uenching "ay leave hot s!ots in the bed$ (hich can cause e2!losive blo(outs during drilling. Blo(outs "ay interru!t and e2tend the cutting !rocedure$ and can even da"age the bit$ ste"$ or rotor. An unsu!!orted bed o& coke can suddenly &all out o& the dru" and release large a"ounts o& coke and hot (ater. 6he sudden &lo( o& coke can dra"atically increase the de"and on the e.ui!"ent that trans!orts coke &ro"

the botto" o& the dru" to the !it or !ad$ and can over(hel" an inade.uately designed syste". 6his could allo( coke to back u! onto the deck$ and (ill o&ten re.uire through!ut reductions to co"!lete clean u! e&&orts. /hot coke can also cave+ in during drilling$ da"aging the bit or ste" and re.uiring reduced through!ut to allo( re!air. 6he Conoco;Bechtel a!!roach to handling shot coke e&&iciently is to !revent the occurrence o& blo(outs through !ro!er o!erating !ara"eters$ dru" !re!aration and decoking !rocedures$ such as ade.uate .uench ti"es$ dru" soaking$ and o!erator intervention (hen a hot s!ot is antici!ated. e also design coke handling &acilities that (ill not be over(hel"ed by large coke &allouts. For instance$ Conoco;Bechtel cokers are designed (ith an o!en slo!ed (all in !lace o& a closed bo2 chute to trans!ort coke &ro" the botto" o& the dru" to the !it or !ad. 6he large cross+ section area hel!s dissi!ate the "o"entu " o& the coke (hile not restricting the &lo( during a blo(out or &allout. 6his hel!s !revent the coke &ro" backing u! and over&lo(ing onto the deck. BIMM/C I concur (ith Mr. /te&ani. 6he biggest !roble"s are dru" blo(outs$ coke dru" du"!ing #sa&e deheading%$ and cave ins #(hile cutting%. Precautions can be taken against blo(outs$ ho(ever$ there are no guarantees. Ma2i"i,e the cooling cycle. Make sure that the coke is &ully covered #use the nuclear level indicators to (atch the (ater level%. hen the coke is covered soak the dru" &or X1 hour. Personnel on the coke cutting deck "ay be !rotected (ith a !ressuri,ed or !urged roo" on the cut deck. 6he cut+ deck o!erators should (ear &ull !rotective gear. Perha!s the "ost desirable "ethod &or !roviding !rotection &ro" coke dru" du"!ing is to de+ head the dru" (ith an auto"atic de+ heading cart. Ho(ever$ the "ini"u " cost &or these devices is at least Q1MM. I& you have a "anual de+ heading cart$ it can be e.ui!!ed (ith a D!igtailE to allo( the o!erator to "ove a sa&e distance &ro" the dru" (ith a good egress !ath. Cave+ ins are "ore likely (ith unconsolidated coke. 3se o& !ro!er cutting angles and s!eed can hel! to "itigate cave+ ins. Other !roble"s associated (ith shot coke handling "ay include !lugging o& the &ines handling syste" (ith coke Db+ bEsE. It "ay be necessary to change the screens o& the shakers so that actual shot coke is se!arated &ro" true &ines. *AR*05C I do not have "uch to add to (hat has been said so &ar$ other than one o& the !roble"s that (e have run into occasionally$ es!ecially in the old coker (hich drills into rail cars$ is (e have buried rail cars$ (e have knocked the" o&& the track$ and (e have da"aged the" because o& cave+ ins on dru"s. I agree (ith the co""ents (here a lot o& !revention goes back to the (ay you .uench the dru"s and "aking sure you have had a good .uench on the dru"s. PROOP/C e have :>$>>> bbl;d shot coking at Pine Bend$ so (e are &a"iliar (ith this. Our biggest concern is cave+ ins during unheading. 6o i"!rove sa&ety$ (e have added Hahn and Clay unheading syste"s in all the dru"s. 6o reduce occurrences$ (e assure the dru" is entirely drained be&ore unheading. e (ill reduce &urnace outlet te"!erature a &e( degrees i& (e kno( o& a change in &eed co"!osition$ such as increased recycle$ (hich "ight cause loose coke in the botto" o& the dru". Our ne2t big concern is !lugged drains. e target a high initial stea" rate$ and (hen (e add (ater$ (e !ush the cooling rate to .uickly get the dru" to !ressure. 6hen$ at the end o& the cooling !eriod$ (e do not sto! adding (ater until (e are ready to drain$ so that the inlet &lo(!ath does not go to ,ero velocity.

Another concern is hot s!ots in the dru"$ (hich cause !ressure s!ikes during cooling$ even a&ter the dru" !ressure has broken. More i"!ortantly$ the hot s!ots cause blo(backs during drilling. e observe that !ure shot coke has &e(er hot s!ots than transition shot;s!onge coke. 6o reduce occurrences (here it is "ost co""on$ (e stea" &or at least an hour be&ore adding (ater. 6his ensures "ore co"!lete cooling. e also get &eedback &ro" the drillers as to the .uality o& the dru" they 7ust cut. I& the dru" (as ?hot?$ (e (ill increase dru" inlet te"!erature slightly #and "ove to(ards !ure shot coke%$ or reduce the cooling te"!erature target to let the dru" soak longer. Finally$ (e try to avoid stuck drill ste"s by drilling large !ilot holes be&ore starting to cut the dru". IMMIAM A605 #Myondell+ Citgo%C Mr. /te&ani$ (hat !ara"eters do you give o!erations to "onitor to insure a cool$ .uenched coke dru" in ti"e &or o!erators to take action to re.uench #or other actions to insure o!erator sa&ety (hen deheading%' /60FA5IC *o you "ean$ other than 7ust assuring that the (ater level during the &ill cycle has totally covered the bed' IMMIAM A605 #Myondell+ Citgo%C In general you talked about having a !rogra" to insure the o!eration is as good as it can be. I& you (ere to go through a .uench and drain cycle$ is there anything that "ight tell you that you still "ay have a hot dru"' 6here "ay be other things you "ight need to do$ including the !ossibility o& re.uenching the dru" or &ollo(ing other .uenching !rocedures. /60FA5IC 6here is a subse.uent .uestion that does address (hether there is a !otential &or blo(outs by (atching the drain cycle. But nor"ally$ (hat can be done is to &ill the dru" (ith (ater and i& a !otential blo(out is antici!ated$ (e reco""end you go into a dru" soak "ode. 6he dru" soak could be anything &ro" &i&teen "inutes o& soak ti"e u! to an hour$ or (hatever additional &le2ibility you have available in the decoking cycle. IMMIAM A605 #Myondell+ Citgo%C I thought there "ay be so"e !ara"eter that you use in your designs that "ight hel! an o!erator to kno( i& he "ight have a hot dru" !roble". /60FA5IC 6here are no obvious !ara"eters that I can give you. Question -) Are all shot cokes the sa"e' Can they be !redicted &ro" &eed !ro!erties' *oes slurry addition hel!' /60FA5IC All shot coke is the sa"e in that it is the result o& ra!id &or"ation or agglo"eration o& the as!haltenes in the &urnace$ trans&er line and coke dru". 6he rate at (hich as!haltenes &or" is a &unction o& the &eed !ro!erties and the o!erating conditions.

Feeds (ith high as!haltenes and lo( "altenes$ or resins$ result in very ra!id shot coke &or"ation. 6he &eed solids content and sul&ur content (ill a&&ect shot coke &or"ation. Furnace o!erations also !lay an i"!ortant !art in the &or"ation o& the shot coke. Gery long residence ti"es in the heater (ill increase the &or"ation and agglo"eration o& as!haltenes$ thereby !roducing shot coke. /lurry addition does hel! reduce shot coke &or"ation by kee!ing the as!haltenes in solutionO ho(ever$ it has a nu"ber o& dra(backs$ including lo(er re&inery li.uid yields and increased coke yields. Feeding slurry oil to the coker can create a large recycle bet(een the coker$ the FCC &eed !retreater$ and the FCC. 6his recycle takes u! ca!acity in all three units$ thus reducing the re&ineryEs ca!acity to !rocess crude. BIMM/C I agree (ith Mr. /te&ani that shot cokes are &or"ed because o& as!haltenes in your coker &eed. Ho(ever$ beyond that (e disagree. /hot cokes vary in Btu content$ sul&ur$ "etals$ volatile carbonaceous "aterial #GCMRs%$ and Hardgrove grindability. /hot coke o& only certain "esh si,es is good in titaniu" dio2ide "anu&acture. /hot coke !roduction correlations vary in their accuracy. Our in+ house correlations are !ro!rietary$ but (ere develo!ed by running "ulti!le &eedstocks and "easuring the coke coe&&icient o& 6her"al 02!ansion #C60%O a test &irst introduced to us by Kreat Makes Carbon Cor!oration. 6he correlations (ere develo!ed using regression analyses on the &eedstock !ro!erties as co"!ared to the resulting C60 o& the coke. 6he !rediction accuracy is a &unction o& ho( "any di&&erent &eeds have been run to develo! the correlation. 6he correlation cannot accurately !redict resulting coke ty!e in all cases$ but generally can give an indication i& an o!erating change or &eedstock change (ill be in the direction o& shot coke &or"ation or a(ay &ro" shot coke !roduction. /lurry addition (ill reduce the C60 o& the coke due to its high aro"aticity and can hel! avoid shot coke !roduction$ but can contribute to higher ash content and accelerated heater &ouling due to entrain"ent o& FCC catalyst &ines in the slurry oil. It is best to have so"e ty!e o& &iltration o& the slurry oil to avoid this !roble" i& you intend to use slurry oil in the coker as the catalyst loss through the slurry is variable (ith ti"e. *AR*05C 6he only thing I (ould add to the co""ents already !resented is that i& you do use slurry as a diluent to hel! kee! the as!haltenes in solution$ (hat you can (ind u! (ith is a buildu! in a recycle loo! o& aro"atics all the (ay through the re&inery. Iou get the slurry back in the coker heavy gas oil$ it goes through your hydrotreater$ does not get &ully converted there$ goes back to the FCC3$ co"es right back out as slurry. It 7ust builds u! in an endless cycle. I have !lugged u! e2changers because o& as!haltene !reci!itation in other units because o& that recycle loo!. LAM0/ 0I6H #Fluor *aniel%C

I 7ust (ant to add to (hat has been said about building u! a re&ractory recycle loo! through the re&inery. hat you have to do to !revent this is to encourage the coker !eo!le to turn u! their severity. 6hey (ant the slurry oil to !revent shot coke$ but they do not (ant to crack it. 6hat (ould re.uire raising the te"!eratures on the coker charge heaters$ (hich (ould shorten the heater run lengths. 6here&ore$ you get the slurry back$ i& you are running heavy coker gas oil in your FCC3. 0ventually you can get to the !oint (here you beco"e hydraulically li"ited so"e(here in the slurry oil !roduct;rundo(n syste". Iou can even beco"e air blo(er and (et gas co"!ressor li"ited$ because slurry recycle !ro"otes additional coke and gas !roduction in the FCC. hen these e2tre"es are reached$ the only solution is &or the FCC o!erators to divert the slurry

oil &ro" the coker to storage. 6his lets the slurry recycle loo! unload$ and re&reshes the coker o!erators "e"ories on (hat it is like to deal (ith shot coke. A&ter about a (eek or so o& this &or" o& ?tough love?$ the coker (ill rene( its !ro"ises to kee! the severity u! (hen running slurry oil. 6hese !ro"ises usually last until the ne2t round o& decoking the coker heaters. 6hen rene(ed e"!hasis is !ut on e2tending the heater run lengths. 3lti"ately it beco"es a trade o&& bet(een the risks involved in dealing (ith shot coke$ and the econo"ics o& "ore &re.uent heater decokings. Question -hat do you do during decoking to save on cycle ti"e' *AR*05C Bet(een the t(o cokers at MCR$ (e have a cou!le o& ite"s that are co""on bet(een the t(o &or saving on decoking ti"e. 6he &irst o& those is "aking sure the drilling e.ui!"ent is reliable. I& (e have to slo( do(n rates because o& a !roble" (ith a cable$ (ith a !roble" (ith a drill hose$ leaking &itting$ that see"s to be (here (e lose a lot o& ti"e. e have also been looking into the blo(do(n syste"s$ (hich have been li"iting on both o& the units$ and (e have actually !aralleled the blo(do(n line on the ne( syste"$ so that (e can increase the .uench (ater rates. I think individually$ it co"es do(n to looking at each unit to see (here you have available ti"e to tri". But you have to re"e"ber to do it sa&ely$ that is the only thing I (ould caution. HRI/H5AC I echo Mr. *ardenEs senti"ents. It is a case by case situation looking at each individual coker to see (hat all the individual ste!s and (here there can be savings in each !art o& the ste!. For us right no($ (e are &ocusing on the stea" stri! and the dru" !reheat !arts o& the cycle. PROOP/C I (ould agree (ith those co""ents. e have stea"ed &or as little as t(enty "inutes (hen (e are running eleven hour cycles$ and (e have reduced (ar"+ u! to as lo( as an hour and a hal&. Obviously$ (e try to !ush cooling to !ressure li"its$ and (e use co"bination cutting bits. e also restrict va!or &lo( to the &ractionator to &orce va!or back to the (ar"ing dru" and s!eed !reheat. /60FA5IC Conoco$ at their Make Charles and Ponca City re&ineries have dru"s that o!erate on ten hour cycles. Most o& the cycle ti"e reduction is acco"!lished through shortening the heat+ u! cycle. For larger dru"s a ra!id heat+ u! can be detri"ental to the skirt (eld attach"ent. 6o co"!ensate &or this !otential !roble"$ the Conoco;Bechtel design incor!orates a s!ecial design &or the shell skirt attach"ent that "akes allo(ances &or a shortened heat+ u! cycle ti"e. In addition$ as so"e o& the !anelists have "entioned$ a !ro!erly si,ed 7et !u"!$ the use o& co"bination drill bits$ and auto"atic unheading are bene&icial to "aintain the decoking cycle ti"e. e also reco""end that !rocedures be established to avoid and;or handle cave+ ins and blo(outs. 6his (ill not save you ti"e directly$ but (ill avoid having additional ti"e tacked onto your decoking cycle to re"edy any !otential u!set condition. LAM0/ LO50/ #6urner Mason Co"!any%C 6his is &or Mr. /te&ani. I guess there has been a lot o& reduction in cycle ti"es over the last &our or &ive years &ro" (hat (e see in /olo"on surveys and (hat (e have heard &ro" the !anel. hat is the lo(est cycle ti"e that you are actually designing units &or'

/60FA5IC 6he choice o& the initial cycle ti"e is$ in general$ re&lective o& the clientEs co"&ort level. For an initial design$ (e see 19+ 1< hour cycles as being a standard$ (ith !erha!s 18 hours at the e2tre"e. Further reductions in cycle ti"es usually are a "atter o& necessity rather than !re"editated design and are e"!loyed (hen a ca!acity increase or !rocessing a heavier &eed is re.uired. 6he Conoco+ Bechtel standard coke dru" design does allo( &or reduction o& the cycle ti"e do(n to ten hours (ith no i"!act on dru" li&e. ROI H0//M0R #Fluor *aniel%C e have a delayed coker that ca"e on strea" this year that can be unheaded (ith the dru" still &ull o& .uench(ater. 6he (ay it (orks is the unheading area is structurally enclosed on three sides$ and it uses a slide deck in co"bination (ith our auto"ated unheading syste". 6he o!eration has been very success&ul and can eli"inate "ore than an hour &ro" the cycle ti"e by eli"inating the drain ste!. In addition$ (e have our ne( generation o& boltless unheading devices that can reduce the unhead and rehead ti"es do(n to &ive to ten "inutes &ro" the thirty "inutes or so that has been ty!ical &or a bolted syste". 6ARIQ MAMIH #Citgo Re&inery N Che"ical%C /ince 1==:$ (e have consistently o!erated on eleven hour cycles$ and have de"onstrated ten to ten and a hal& hour cycles as (ell. e run out o& &eed$ so (e cannot "aintain short cycles. Ours is a contain"ent syste" that (e call a shot coke and (ater contain"ent syste" P it is o!erated re"otely. e (ere able to cut the drain ti"e to about &i&teen to thirty "inutes and (e nor"ally co"!lete our drain through the botto" head. e are !rotected &ro" botto" blo(outs and cave+ ins (ith this syste". 0veryone on the s(itch deck is (ell !rotected and shielded &ro" any ha,ardous o!eration. e have a t(o+ dru" Coker$ and can run 1-$>>>+ 11$>>> bbl through it. 6his syste" o& ours is !rotected by 3/ !atents and is licensed through Hahn N Clay$ and I understand si2 units have been licensed thus &ar. Question -1 6o (hat e2tent have you auto"ated the decoking cycle' *o o!erators have re"ote "onitors on the structure$ (hich can be vie(ed to see i& there are !roble"s at that level o& the structure' HRI/H5AC e really have not auto"ated the decoking cycle. e have "otori,ed the valves$ the dru" s(itching and the isolation valves$ (ith a vie( to interlocking the"$ !ri"arily &ro" a sa&ety !oint o& vie($ but (e have no !lans to auto"ate or !ut the" on a closed loo! control. PROOP/C All (e have done so &ar is auto"atic unheading (ith Krayloc &langes$ hydraulic chutes$ and (e do not have re"ote "onitors. /60FA5IC Conoco has had an auto"ated dru" decoking syste" in service at their Hu"ber re&inery since the early 1=<>s. 6he syste" uses a PMC to control drill ste" !osition$ rotation s!eed$ and ti"ing$ and dis!lays this data on an o!erator console. 6he !rogra" is designed to !er&or" the &ull decoking se.uence$ &irst cutting and rea"ing the !ilot hole$ then retracting the bit to allo( the o!erator to change "odes$ and &inally cutting the dru". Additional instru"entation &eeds in&or"ation on cable tension$ (ater !ressure$ and hydraulic syste" conditions into a console so

an o!erator can "onitor the !rocess. Additionally$ Conoco has &ound that the auto"ated decoking syste" has hel!ed the" reduce the &re.uency o& !roble"s encountered during decoking by standardi,ing the cutting !rocedure. Re"ote "onitors such as video ca"eras are not necessary (ith an auto"ated decoking syste" because they do not !rovide any use&ul in&or"ation in addition to the data already dis!layed on the PMC console. Question -8 *o you allo( the coke bed to ?soak? in .uench (ater a&ter being &illed' I& yes$ &or ho( long' /60FA5IC A ?soak? ste! is included in the dru" cycle at so"e but not all Conoco re&ineries$ and the !eriod varies &ro" > to 9> "inutes de!ending on the dru" cycle and location. For instance$ their &our+ dru" coker in Make Charles is on 1> hour cycles and does not include a ?soak? !eriod in the cycle$ (hile$ the t(o+ dru" coker in Ponca City also on 1> hour cycles ty!ically includes a 18 to -> "inute ?soak? !eriod. At the re&ineries (here the ?soak? is !er&or"ed$ Conoco has seen several bene&its$ includingC

46he !otential &or blo(outs is greatly reduced 46he stea" released during unheading and drilling is reduced. 46he !otential &or s"all coke &ires on the !ad due to inade.uately .uenched coke is lessened.

BIMM/C Ies$ (e allo( our coke dru"s to soak in .uench thirty to si2ty "inutes. *AMIC It is not called out as !art o& the !rocedure because (e are looking at other signs o& va!or evolving o&& the coke dru" to tell (hen the dru" is cold. *AR*05C e allo( (ater .uench at the end (here (e do a soak &or any(here &ro" thirty "inutes to t(o hours. It 7ust de!ends on (hat the (ater te"!erature is at the to! o& the dru". HRI/H5AC At our t(o short+ cycle locations$ (e do not soak. At the long cycle coker$ (e do. PROOP/C ith eleven hour cycles$ (e do not over&lo(. On &ourteen hour cycles$ (e over&lo( to !revent shot coke &ro" settling in the dru" and !lugging the drain. It also assists (ater !enetration into the dense hot ,ones in the dru". e usually over&lo( until the va!or line te"!erature is belo( 1<>@F or even 18>@F$ i& (e have been having hots!ot !roble"s. Question -9 *o you have e.ui!"ent that allo(s the o!erators to o!en the head #to! or botto"% &ro" a re"ote location' Please describe it. Ho( you handle a cave in during de+ heading'

*AR*05C Our botto" heads are all o!erated &ro" a re"ote location$ using a Hahn N Clay /yste". 6he !anels that the o!erators are stationed at are about si2ty &eet &ro" the botto" heads. e have not had !roble"s (ith the o!erators being e2!osed. e have had so"e dru"s du"!. e had one du"! severely P it actually bent the botto" head su!!orts and covered the lo(er deck$ but the o!erators (ere able to get a(ay &ro" the coke. /o (e think (e have ade.uate sa&ety "easures in !lace. HRI/H5AC I guess it de!ends on (hat (e "ean by re"ote. I& you are talking about the o!erator being a(ay &ro" the structure on another deck$ (e do not have that$ (hich is kind o& (hat Mr. *arden (as talking about. e do have hydraulic unheading o& the botto" head$ and the o!erator can stand$ oh$ about thirty &eet a(ay on the sa"e deck$ but not a(ay &ro" the structure. *AMIC e have hydraulic to! and botto" heads. 6he o!erator is one dru" a(ay. Question -: Ho( do you kno( you have got a good drain and the dru" is e"!ty o& (ater' !rocedures to drain the dru" i& the inlet line or drain line !lugs' PROOP/C e (atch the rate at (hich (ater &alls !ast the H+Ray 5eutron Back /catter Mevel *etectors. 6his allo(s us to calculate a (ater drain rate. e do not have any target$ but i& the nor"al drain rate allo(s the H+Ray signals to dro!$ say (ithin &ive "inutes o& each other$ then (e can easily recogni,e a drain$ i& it takes$ say &i&teen "inutes or "ore$ bet(een detectors &or the signals to dro! o&&. e also observe the &lo( &ro" the drain !i!e. It should be &ull o& (ater as it co"es out. e o!en the gray lock &langes cautiously to check &or high (ater !ressure. 6his (ould indicate a level o& (ater in the dru"$ and the drainline is !lugged do(nstrea" o& the gray lock. e dehead the botto" slo(ly to observe e2cess (ater draining. 6his (ill occur$ again$ i& the line is !lugged. I& a drain does !lug$ (e (ill &irst !ush (ater u! into the dru"$ then i& necessary$ (e (ill try !ushing stea" u! into the dru". In one location$ the !rocedure actually calls &or in7ecting (ater &ollo(ed by stea"$ then draining i""ediately$ re!eating the ste!s until the drain o!ens. BIMM/C At the Bakers&ield Re&inery$ (e !ut additional (ater into the dru"$ a&ter the initial drain is a!!arently co"!lete. e redrain the dru" to deter"ine (hether the added (ater co"es out in a &ree &lo(ing "anner. Additionally$ (e "ay use a si"!le (ater balance$ checking the di&&erence bet(een the starting and ending stra!!ing on the cut (ater tank. e "ay also take the additional !recaution o& in7ecting stea" in the botto" no,,le (hen the drain a!!ears to be co"!lete. /i"!ly$ i& (ater begins to &lo( again the dru" (as not e"!ty. *eheading a &ull or !artially &ull dru" can be .uite a !roble". I& you have a deheading syste" designed to (ithstand the &orce o& &lo( &ro" a &ull dru" o& (ater$ you can clear the area and lo(er the botto" head slo(ly. Alternatively$ you "ay install longer bolts in su&&icient !laces to hold the head slightly o&& the botto" &lange (hile su!!orted by the deheading cart. O& course$ this "ust be done (ith !ersonnel at a sa&e distance. *AMIC hat are your

*itto to (hat has been said be&ore. Question -< Have you e2!erienced Dblo(outsE;Eblo(backsE during drilling' I& so$ ho( did you avoid this !roble"' *AR*05C Have (e e2!erienced blo(outs and blo(backs' Ies$ (e have$ although not "any ti"es. One o& the i"!ortant things that (e learned as (e started !rocessing so"e o& these heavier crudes and started having this !articular !roble" (as that (e have beco"e better at (atching &or hot dru"s. A cou!le o& the things (e have done is actually look at ho( "uch (ater (e in7ect during the .uench cycle and (e calculate a heat re"oval. e have &ound that the heat re"oval &or the di&&erent cokers is !retty standard across each dru"$ so i& the heat re"oval co"es in very lo( relative to (hat (e think it should be or (hat (e have historically seen$ then (e kno( (e !robably have had so"e (ater "aldistribution. e also look at the !ressure on the dru" as (e start draining to see i& (e get any !ressure (iggles or s!ikes. e also look at the dru" outlet te"!erature to see i& it &alls too ra!idly (hen (e start .uenching. 6hat is a sure indication that your are by!assing one !ortion o& the bed. I& (e start seeing the drain te"!erature &luctuating as (e are draining the dru"$ then (e think (e have a !roble" there$ too. I& (e do not "eet certain criteria that (e have set u! in all o& the dru"s$ then (e re&lush the dru". HRI/H5AC ith s!onge coke$ blo(backs and blo(outs are .uite rare. e have a blo(back diverter "ounted around the drill ste" at the to! head to direct blo(backs u! and a(ay &ro" the !ersonnel on the drill deck. PROOP/C e (ork on stea"ing and cooling !rocedures. In one !lant$ (e stea" the &ull dru" &or 18 "inutes to the &ractionator and thirty "inutes to blo(do(n. 6he ?little stea"? rate is 8$>>> !ounds;hour$ and the ?big stea"? rate to blo(do(n is about ->$>>> !ounds;hour. e also !ush cooling to dru" !ressure li"it to avoid hot s!ots. /60FA5IC ?Blo(outs? and ?blo(backs? can be !revented in "ost cases by !ro!er coke dru" .uenching and soaking. 6his is es!ecially true &or shot coke (here (ater distribution in the bed is !roble"atic. I& the o!erator &eels a blo(back starting$ one "ethod is to back the drill ste" u! about three to &our &eet and (ait &or a &e( "inutes &or the coke to cool. 6his (ill lessen the e&&ect but (ill not !revent blo(backs. hen Conoco has blo(outs$ taking the &ollo(ing ste!s can usually return o!erations to nor"alC

4Revie( dru" !re!aration$ .uench and drilling !rocedures. 4Mog cutting activities and co""ents. 4Revie( o!erating !ara"eters. 40stablish co""unication bet(een the cutting cre( and the o!erators. An e2!erienced o!erator can detect (hen a dru" is "ore !rone to blo(outs by observing dru" conditions during .uench and drain.

6ARIQ MAMIH #Citgo Re&inery N Che"ical%C In addition to "aking sure that you have .uenched the dru" very (ell in order to avoid any

hots!ots or blo(outs (hile you are cutting$ you can also !revent these blo(outs &ro" ha!!ening by changing your &eed co"!osition a little bit. 5or"ally$ these blo(outs ha!!en because the resin content o& the G6B has gone (ay do(n$ and as!haltenes in !ro!ortion to the resins. Iou can buy secondary &eedstocks and blend the" into your Coker &eed to increase the resin co"!onent$ and that (ill act as a binder to !revent blo(outs. ROI H0//M0R #Fluor *aniel%C e think in the long ter" (ith shot coke o!erations$ this !roble" really is not going to be avoided. e suggest that you bee& u! the venting ca!acity o& the dru" syste" &or the drilling ste!. e also use a locking drill ste" guide at the to! no,,le in co"bination (ith our auto"ated to! head syste". 6hat tends to restrict the ra!id release o& "aterial out o& the to! o& the dru". Question -= *o you have !rovisions &or !rotecting the driller &ro" !otential Dblo(outsE' I& so$ (hat are those !rovisions' BIMM/C Ies$ (e !rovide !rotection &or the driller. 6he drill o!erator is in a closed house (ith the e2it on the o!!osite side o& the dru" outlet or coke dru" to! "an(ays. 6he roo" is also !urged to !revent any ingress o& s"oke that "ay result &ro" a blo(out. Additionally$ the o!erator is in &ull !rotective gearC &ace shield$ sa&ety glasses$ hard hat$ gloves$ boots and rain gear. PROOP/C e have !rovisions such as se!arating the driller location &ro" the to! head$ !roviding esca!e routes$ &ive "inute air bottles$ de&lection on the to! head to kee! anything that does co"e out o& the to! o& the dru" a(ay &ro" the drilling shack$ and re"ote shutdo(n o& the 7et !u"!. /60FA5IC All units o!erated and designed by Conoco include !rotective shelters &or the coke cutters. Gisibility o& the dru" and cutting e.ui!"ent is "aintained (ith the use o& bullet!roo& glass in the shelter. Fresh air gear is !rovided in the drilling shelter. Most locations have set strict !rocedures li"iting the nu"ber and location !ro2i"ity o& !ersonnel during the cutting !rocess. Question 1> Has anyone heard o& a co"bination drill bit that can be s(itched re"otely #(hile still in the dru"%$ and does anyone have any e2!erience using so"ething like this' *AMIC e have had .uite a se.uence o& co"bination cutters over ti"e. 6he one (e are currently using is a branch o!erator to "ove &ro" !ilot to cutting "ode. 6hat is "ade by I*P. e did try the co"bo cutter that you could change by the !ressure o& the (ater on the !iston (hile it (as inside the dru". 6he o!eratorEs co""ent (as that they loved it$ e2ce!t they never could get the no,,le si,e that they (anted. /o$ it took too long to drill. /60FA5IC Be&ore being !urchased by Ingersoll Rand$ orthington had develo!ed a &ully auto"ated co"bination drilling tool that changed "ode by cycling the drilling (ater valve. 6he tool (as tested at ARCO Cherry Point and (orked &or the "ost !art. 6here (ere so"e bugs that still needed to be (orked out. /ince a reliable auto"atic drilling tool has not been &ully debugged$ Conoco; Bechtel

reco""ends the standard co"bination cutting tool &or all its designs. Question 11 For those (ho (ent &ro" s!onge coke to shot coke !roduction$ (hat (ere the s!eci&ic changes "ade toC cranes$ crushers$ conveyor belts$ trans&er stations$ truck;rail;vessel loading e.ui!"ent$ drilling !rocedures;ti"e' hat are the sa&ety issues' /60FA5IC e (ould not e2!ect to need to "odi&y or u!grade a !ro!erly designed crane to handle shot coke. Crushers (ill usually re.uire so"e (ork to the &eeder$ such as reducing the slo!e on a vibratory &eeder deck$ or !erha!s outright re!lace"ent. Conveyor belts "ay re.uire even "ore e2tensive "odi&ications. Belt s!eeds and inclinations "ay need to be reduced because shot coke has a higher tendency to roll back due to a lo(er angle o& re!ose. O& course$ these changes (ill also e&&ectively reduce belt ca!acity. Belt cleaning syste"s (ill ty!ically need to be u!graded. 6rans&er stations (ill ty!ically re.uire "odi&ications to reduce angles and to add longer skirt boarding. Moading e.ui!"ent &or trucks$ railcars$ or vessels should not need "odi&ication to handle shot coke$ unless a conveyor belt is e"!loyed. *rilling !rocedures should be evaluated &or shot cokeO so"e o!erators &ind it use&ul to cut &ro" the to! o& the dru" do(n$ and s"aller ste!s "ay also be necessary. *rilling ti"e is o&ten reduced due to the tendency o& shot coke to &all out o& the dru"O ho(ever$ the drilling s!eed "ay need to be slo(ed i& hot s!ots are encountered. /hot coke !resents signi&icant sa&ety risks to o!erations and cutting cre( !ersonnel during the decoking se.uence. /hot coke is "ore !rone to channeling$ (hich "akes it "ore di&&icult to .uench and drain dru"s co"!letely. 6his can leave hot s!ots in the bed that cause blo(outs and e2!ose !ersonnel to coke !ro7ectiles and su!erheated stea". 6he loose nature o& shot coke can also lead to &allouts (hen the botto" o& the dru" is unheaded$ (hich can cause coke to back u! and s!ill onto the deck$ e2!osing !ersonnel to coke and scalding (ater. ConocoEs a!!roach to handling shot coke sa&ely is to !revent these !roble"s !ri"arily through e&&ective dru" !re!aration and decoking !rocedures$ observing !ro!er o!erating conditions$ and by !ro!er design o& coke handling &acilities. For instance$ Conoco usually e"!loys an o!en$ slo!ed (all to trans!ort coke &ro" the dru"s to the !it;!ad. 6his !rovides an unrestricted channel that (ill not cause the coke to back u! in the chute during a large &allout. Additional !ersonnel !rotection is !rovided by locating the drill ste" control !anel inside shelters that are re"otely located &ro" the to! o& the dru"s (hile "aintaining a clear line o& sight$ and by the use o& re"otely o!erated botto" head re"oval syste"s. BIMM/C *es!ite the change &ro" ?s!onge like? #"ore lu"!s than &ines% to de&initely shot$ at the Bakers&ield Re&inery$ our coke (as still consolidatedO s!eci&ically the coke Db+ bEsE still had a coke binder holding the" together. 6he !ri"ary di&&erence (as in lu"! si,es. e added a third shaker to enhance &ines se!aration and the shaker screen si,es (ere changed to acco""odate the ne( lu"! si,es. e also "ade changes to the conveyor belt "otors and "aterials. In addition to the "echanical changes$ it (as necessary to give "ore diligence to our sorting !ractices to !revent !lugging o& the clari&ier no,,les and vacuu" syste". Question 1) Ho( do re&iners control;"onitor the height o& dru" &oa" and coke levels' At (hat !oint in the dru" cycle do &oa"overs generally ha!!en' hat correlating !ara"eters e2ist #e.g. dru" te"!erature$ &eed source$ &eed .uality% to "itigate the &oa"overs' PROOP/C 6he best (ay to continually "onitor the &oa" in a coke dru" is (ith a neutron backscatter device. Although there are li"itations in these devices #they only ?see? si2 to eight inches into

the dru"%$ &or everyday "onitoring they (ork very (ell. 6hey should be calibrated every -+9 "onths. 6hese devices are "ost accurate (hen there is good &oa" control$ and the dyna"ics inside the dru" are kno(n. 6hey (ork best a&ter the dru"s have been analy,ed by ga""a scan techni.ues #(hich ?see? through the (hole dru"%. A ga""a scan can deter"ine &oa" heights throughout a cycle$ and the e&&ects o& anti+ &oa". Over =>F o& our &oa"overs have occurred during dru" s(itch$ (hen the dru" de!ressures and the &oa" e2!ands like a soda bottle (hen &irst o!ened. Kood &oa" control can eli"inate this. Poor anti&oa" dis!ersion or lack o& anti&oa" during the cycle also causes &oa"overs. One o& our (orst &oa"overs (as due to (ater entering the dru" (ith stea" i""ediately a&ter a s(itch. For short+ &ill dru"s$ (e "ight not start anti&oa" until 7ust be&ore the s(itch$ i& at all. ith nor"al dru"s$ (e start anti&oa" at 1+) !ounds /i !er 1>>> bbl$ about 9+< hours be&ore the s(itch. e double the rate an hour be&ore the s(itch$ or (hen (e see the botto" H+ray signal$ (hichever is &irst. Pine Bend has three H+rays !er dru" at 18$ )>$ and )8 &eet belo( to! tangent. Cor!us Christi has &ive H+rays !er dru" at :$ 11$ )1$ )9$ and -1 &eet. e use these to "onitor &oa" during &ill cycles. 6he ti"e at (hich the detector signals increase$ and the interval &ro" "ini"u " to "a2i"u " scale$ allo(s the o!erators to esti"ate "a2i"u " &oa" height and dru" outage. e con&ir" the coke "ake by "easuring coke outage (hen the dru" is o!ened. Correlating !ara"eters includeC

4&eed co"!osition #both the crude source and the vacuu" cut !oint% 4dru " !ressure and te"!erature #lo( !ressures and te"!eratures increase &oa"ing% 4s(itch s!eed #one !lant takes )>+ -> "inutes to s(itch$ and the other does it in &ive% 4dru " !ressure dro! during s(itch #one location li"its to less than 1 !si !er "inute%.

/60FA5IC Mr. Proo!s has covered the to!ic very succinctly. e (ould 7ust like to add that ga""a ray detectors are no( being investigated &or this a!!lication$ being able to give you a continuous reading throughout the dru". As indicated$ &oa"overs usually occur during &eed co"!osition changes$ lo( coke dru" outages$ loss o& anti&oa" in7ection$ i"!ro!er anti&oa" solutions$ a&ter dru" s(itches$ lo( coke dru" te"!eratures or ra!id de!ressuring to blo(do(n. e agree that in so"e cases$ the coke dru" level detections have not been !ro!erly or ade.uately calibrated$ and (ill give you &alse readings that can be contributory to &oa"overs. *AR*05C e also agree. Most o& the ti"e (hen (e see &oa"ing !roble"s$ it is usually late in the dru" cycle (hen (e s(itch to blo(do(n$ es!ecially i& (e de!ressure the dru" too .uickly. 6he &e( ti"es (hen (e have seen (hat (e (ould call e2cessive &oa"ing during the nor"al o!eration o& the coke dru"$ (e can usually track it right straight back to the desalter o!eration (ith sodiu" co"ing over in the &eed. HRI/H5AC e$ too use the H+rays neutron back scattering and (e also have three indications in each dru". As "entioned$ the &oa"over is ty!ically incident relatedO i.e.$ the soda bottle e&&ect$ as (as "entioned$ or a cold dru" being heated too .uickly.

Question 1*escribe the a!!lications and the e&&ectiveness o& anti&oa"ers &or "itigating dru" &oa"overs$ and are "ore viscous anti&oa"ers advantageous' /60FA5IC Conoco has &ound that "ost o& their re&ineries have bene&ited &ro" reduced anti&oa" costs by s(itching &ro" the 9>$>>> c/t silicones to the 1>>$>>> c/t. All o& their 3./. re&ineries are currently using a 1>>$>>> c/t di"ethyl!olysilo2ane anti&oa" and have seen no a!!arent loss o& de&oa"ing ca!ability co"!ared to the 9>$>>> c/t. A ty!ical Conoco anti&oa" in7ection syste" e"!loys a carrier &luid #usually MCKO% to dilute the silicone and enhance dis!ersion o& the silicone over the dru". *ilution ratios vary bet(een re&ineries$ but the "ost e&&ective range see"s to be bet(een 8>C1 to 18>C1 carrier &luid volu"e to anti&oa". 6he in7ection !oint should be located on to! o& the coke dru" a(ay &ro" the va!or line to ensure that a "ini"u " a"ount o& anti&oa" is entrained out o& the dru" be&ore it can reach the &oa" layer. Finally$ the in7ection syste" should be designed to deliver the strea" carrier;anti&oa" "i2 as directly to the &oa" layer as !ossible. It should not s!ray on the I* o& a large no,,le$ or s!lash onto the dru" (alls$ (here it (ill tend to run do(n the (alls and can begin deco"!osing be&ore reaching the &oa" layer. *AR*05C Mr. /te&ani covered the to!ic &airly (ell. About the only thing I (anted to add is that (e have observed t(o di&&erent "ethods o& dilution. One$ o& course$ is the batch ty!e dilution (herein the anti&oa" is diluted in a day tank and then !u"!ed &ro" there. 6o reduce "an!o(er re.uire"ents$ (e have also seen anti&oa" in7ected neat into a gas oil sli! strea". 6y!ical dilution ratio is 1>>C1 gas oil to anti&oa"$ and the sli! strea" should be "etered. A static "i2er is reco""ended to avoid !hase se!aration. HRI/H5AC e use 9>$>>> centistokes in all three locations. e have the in+ line "i2ing o& the anti&oa" and carrier$ and (e think it (orks better than the day tank. 0MMIO66C 6he !er&or"ance o& the anti&oa" really de!ends u!on its "olecular (eight. Kenerally s!eaking$ higher "olecular (eight anti&oa" delivers better !er&or"ance since "olecules o& higher "olecular (eight re"ain on the &oa" &ront longer be&ore they break do(n into volatile co"!onents. Ho(ever$ viscosity o& the anti&oa" is not linear (ith "olecular (eight. For instance "oving &ro" 9>$>>> centistoke to 1>>$>>> centistoke increases the "olecular (eight by only about 1>F. Both 9>$>>> and 1>>$>>> centistoke anti&oa"s are used throughout the industry$ and di&&erent o!erators have re!orted di&&erent !er&or"ance or di&&erent e&&ects &ro" going &ro" 9>$>>> to 1>>$>>>. e are currently evaluating a silicone &luid o& "uch higher "olecular (eight. 6he initial re!orts are encouraging. But any !er&or"ance i"!rove"ent o& the higher "olecular (eight !roduct "ust co"!ensate &or the higher cost o& the !roduct. PROOP/C I (ould like to add that i& so"e is good$ "ore is not better. Make sure you are not !utting too "uch anti&oa" in P it does not really hel!. Also$ in7ection o& radioactive tracers (ith the anti&oa"s and detection o& the tracer distribution around the dru" can hel! you check dis!ersion e&&ectiveness. 6ARIQ MAMIH #Citgo Re&inery N Che"ical%C

In order to i"!rove the e&&ectiveness o& the anti&oa" co"!ound$ you have to allo( the silicone to rela2 or uncoil in a day tank. I& you are !u"!ing neat$ the long chain !oly"eric co"!ounds (ill not have an o!!ortunity to uncoil. In order to i"!rove the !rocess you have to "i2 in a day tank and dilute it be&ore you can in7ect it into your dru". e use 1>>$>>> vis. "aterial at our &acility$ but at one o& our sister &acilities$ (e have tested the 9>>$>>> vis. "aterial$ and &ind that it does reduce the silicon carryover$ and it does !rolong the li&e o& the do(nstrea" hydrotreater catalyst. Question 11 Ho( do you "a2i"i,e heater run length (hile "aintaining e&&iciency' *o coker o!erators tend to run their heaters at higher than nor"al O) and less !reheat$ thereby sacri&icing energy e&&iciency &or !otential run length' BIMM/C 6he short ans(er is yesO so"e e&&iciency has to be sacri&iced to "a2i"i,e heater li&e. I think this is !articularly true &or older heaters. Other &actors are (hether the heater is at "a2i"u " or "ini"u " &iring$ the design o& the heater$ and (hether or not you are no( "aking shot cokeO e.g. o!erating at higher heater outlet te"!eratures than original design. Kenerally s!eaking$ "ost "ethods used to increase ti"e bet(een decokes #or s!alls% (ill reduce the &uel e&&iciency o& the heater. Higher e2cess O) in the heater bo2 hel!s to "aintain good circulation around the backside o& the heater tube$ !reventing coking o& the tubes by radiant heat &ro" the (all but uses "ore &uel to heat the air. Maintaining correct tube velocities (ith BF or stea" in7ection hel!s to "itigate coke laydo(n$ but also consu"es &uel energy. Mess !reheat (ill not gain "uchO the charge heater does not coke u! #or should not%. I !resu"e that the desire to e2tend ti"e bet(een decokes is driven by econo"ics. 3sually the value o& through!ut is greater than the cost o& &uelO there&ore$ it is advantageous to sacri&ice so"e energy e&&iciency to buy additional run length. A little !lanning and analysis (ill enable the engineer to strike the !ro!er balance. HRI/H5AC e run our heaters &or nor"al o2ygen levels$ as li"ited by our burnersE design and o!eration$ and have not &ound it e&&ective to run at higher o2ygen$ sacri&icing e&&iciency &or run length. /60FA5IC Our e2!erience has been that there does not a!!ear to be a strong correlation bet(een heater run length and heater e&&iciency. A (ell designed heater (ill give long run lengths regardless o& e&&iciency$ as long as the critical design !ara"eters such as velocity$ residence ti"e$ !ressure dro!$ &il" te"!erature etc. are a!!ro!riately set. Conoco does not run their heaters at a high O) to save &uel. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering%C I (as going to !oll the !anel and "aybe the audience to see ho( "any o& you !rocess coker na!htha into the FCC riser$ and (hen you do$ have you seen any !roble" (ith the alky C!roduct being corrosive #i.e.$ &ailing the co!!er stri! test%' *AR*05C e have run coker na!htha into our &luid unit. e did not see any issues (ith the !ro!ylene strea" o&& the FCC3$ but (e did see about a 1>> !!" increase in sul&ur o&& o& the &luid gasoline$ es!ecially in the heavy cat na!htha.

R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering%C Ho( about anything on a !ro!ane !roduct o&& the alky &ailing the corrosion test' *AR*05C 5o. e sa( no issues (ith the alky.

HRI/H5AC e have had coker na!htha to our FCCs$ and I do not recall that !articular issue (ith the C!roduct. R0JA /A*0KHB0IKI #RM/ 0ngineering%C e designed a syste"$ to !ut the coker na!htha in the "iddle o& a riser &or a client$ because they had a !roble" (ith &ouling the re&or"er !reheat e2changers. /o (hen they co""issioned it$ they told us that they have to re!lace the HOH treaters several ti"es$ and they do not understand (hy$ (hat caused the !ro!ane. 6hey sell the !ro!ane to the utilities$ and it beco"es corrosive. Is it silica that is causing that to be corrosive$ or (hat is really ha!!ening' 6ARIQ MAMIH #Citgo Re&inery N Che"ical%C As a &ollo(+ u! to this .uestion o& running the heaters at higher than nor"al o2ygen$ I (ould like to !oll the !anel to see (hat kind o& heater run lengths they are getting bet(een t(o successive decokes' BIMM/C e run about three to si2 "onths bet(een s!alls$ and (e do an actual decoke a&ter about three or &our s!alls. *AMIC /i2 to nine "onths and (ith this ne( heater (e are ho!ing &or longer. *AR*05C e usually have enough bobbles along the (ay that get us to decoke or online s!all a tube that (e really cannot give you a good ans(er on that. HRI/H5AC e o!erate on about 1) "onth cycles (ith on+ line s!alling t(o to three ti"es during that cycle. PROOP/C 6hree to si2 "onths$ recently higher as (e e2!eri"ent (ith !igging and stea" s!alling. /60FA5IC e reco""end to our clients that !redicting ho( o&ten you on+ line s!all is directly de!endent u!on the &eed. /o"e &eeds re.uire "ore &re.uent on+ line s!alls$ because they have a greater !ro!ensity to coking the heater than others. e reco""end that the heater be s!alled as o&ten as !ossible to avoid a thick layer o& coke buildu! on the tubes. ith "ost crudes a one year run bet(een stea" air decokes is a reasonable e2!ectation.

Question 18 *oes anyone have any e2!erience (ith reva"!ing an e2isting coker &ractionator (ith high ca!acity to(er internals' Ho( "uch ca!acity (as gained #in unit through!ut and;or &ractionator va!or;li.uid load%' hat disadvantages (ere e2!erienced #e.g. li"ited turndo(n%' PROOP/C Our Pine Bend re&inery o!erates three cokers$ t(o o& (hich are nearly identical e2ce!t &or the &ractionators. Both have Fle2igrid in the heavy gas oil !u"!around ,one. One has Fle2i!ac in the na!htha;distillate &ractionation ,one$ and the other has valve trays. 6he !acked colu"n averages about a !ound and a hal& lo(er coke dru" !ressure$ due to lo(er !ressure dro! through the colu"n. 6hese units are not li"ited by &ractionator ca!acity. 6he !acked to(er does have !roble"s &or"ing salt in the to! o& the &ractionation bed$ and as Mr. Lacob described in Question 11 o& the Keneral /ession$ this causes !oor distribution and high end!oint na!htha. e attribute this to a co"bination o& high salt content &eed to the coker and !oor overhead accu"ulator design$ resulting in as "uch as 8 volF &ree (ater re&lu2ed to the &ractionator. e "aintain overhead te"!erature above ):>@F and (ash the bed (ith (ater online as needed. For this reason$ high ca!acity trays are !re&erred in the na!htha section i& &ree (ater "ight be !resent. I& high ca!acity trays cannot achieve desired ca!acity$ then !acking can be used i& the right "etallurgy is selected. Our third coker has a !acked na!htha;distillate &ractionation ,one (ith good &ractionation. 6his to(er has a s!ray cha"ber belo( the heavy gas oil chi"ney tray #the other t(o to(ers have bubble ca! trays%. 6he heavy gas oil &ro" this to(er averages less than 1 !!" nickel !lus vanadiu"$ co"!ared to ) to 1 !!" in the to(ers that have trays. Only s!ray cha"bers or short beds o& highly o!en grid !acking should be considered &or (ash ,ones. High ca!acity trays are not suitable in this service. 6he ca!acity gain reali,ed (ill de!end on the base con&iguration. A !oorly designed colu"n "ight see a ->F increase (hen reva"!ed (ith structured !acking. For "ost reva"!s$ a 18F to )>F increase (ould be ty!ical. /60FA5IC Conoco has used high ca!acity !acking in the !u"!around ,ones in several o& their &ractionators to reva"! and to debottleneck the to(ers and units. BIMM/C 6he Bakers&ield Re&inery coker &ractionator (as reva"!ed (ith structured !acking in 1==). 6his "odi&ication resulted in a!!ro2i"ately 9>F increased ca!acity. /CO66 . KOM*05 #Process Consulting /ervices$ Inc.%C

/tructured !acking has been used in coker "ain &ractionators &or "ore than 1) years. /everal re&iners$ (ith varying success$ have used it. Ca!acity increases o& )>+ ->F have been reached. Coker "ain &ractionator distributors$ like FCC "ain colu"n$ at"os!heric crude$ and vacuu" crude internals can &oul$ !lug$ or be da"aged during start+ u! or during nor"al o!eration. ash section coking and to! section &ouling have been t(o o& the "ore co""on !roble"s. RFK is &orcing re&iners to lo(er the coker na!htha end!oint. 6his reduces the to! te"!erature and increases the likelihood o& &ouling and !lugging. Coker "ain &ractionator internals can be designed to o!erate reliably over the run+ length and increase ca!acity by )>+ -> F. LAH5 /G05*/05 #/hell Klobal /olutions 3./.%C

/hell !ro!rietary high ca!acity trays are used in "ost o& our "ain &ractionatiors (orld(ide. e are slo(ly getting into the A"erican "arkets also in order to get the /hell units over here u!graded (ith this technology. At this "o"ent$ the "ost recent !ro7ect is the *eer Park delayed coker$ on (hich (e have 7ust &inished the !rocess design and are going into the detail engineering !hase. e are adding t(o coke dru"s. 6here are &our no(. e are using the sa"e "ain &ractionator$ the sa"e gas !lant$ and (ill be retraying all distillation colu"ns (ith /hell Cal"ing /ection high ca!acity trays. Question 19 Are there any delayed cokers o!erating at recycle ratios less than 1.>8 #8F%' hat changes are needed to be "ade in order to achieve this' hat is the lo(est recycle ratio currently !ossible' ere the bene&its resulting &ro" these "odi&ications enough the o&&set the ca!ital invest"ent' /60FA5IC Conoco has cokers that are o!erating at a recycle ratio o& 1.>>$ or ,ero !ercent recycle. e also have licensees that have the ca!ability o& o!erating at 1.>> recycle ratio. 6he 1.>> recycle ratio is achieved by e"!loying the Conoco Jero 5atural Recycle technology$ and can be installed either in a grass roots coker or as a retro&it. 6y!ically an additional dra( tray$ t(o !u"!s$ and a heat e2changer are all that is re.uired to (ithdra( the recycle li.uid$ (hich (e re&er to as Flash Jone Kas Oil #FJKO%. 6he bene&its o& o!erating at ,ero recycle (ill vary according to re&inery con&iguration$ but include reduced heater charge and &iring rate$ reduced coke "ake$ higher &resh &eed rate$ increased li.uid yield and increased !roduct &le2ibility. For instance$ hydrocracking re&ineries can tailor HCKO end!oint (ithout !aying the !enalty o& high recycle ratios. Conoco has licensed and designed several grass roots coker units and retro&its (ith Jero 5atural Recycle technology. 6he !ayout is ty!ically less than one year$ and in "any cases only three to si2 "onths. Conoco also has cokers that do not (ithdra( FJKO$ and in these units (e have been able to reduce recycle ratio to a!!ro2i"ately 1.>-. In standard coker designs (ithout FJKO dra(s$ reducing recycle ratio belo( 1.>8 re.uires strict "anage"ent o& slo! oil along (ith &rugal va!or line .uench and &lash ,one (ash oil rates. 6hese "easures can !rovide a signi&icant econo"ic bene&it &ro" increased through!ut$ (ith the !enalty o& a "inor degradation in HCKO .uality. BIMM/C 6he Bakers&ield Re&inery converted to ,ero recycle so"e years ago. 5o !hysical changes (ere re.uired. 6he &lash ,one internals are disc and donut$ there&ore !lugging and;or coking is not an issue. Initially (e conducted so"e tests to deter"ine i& there (ere any signs o& coking the botto" o& the &ractionator but &ound no indications. One issue that "ay a&&ect your choice to go to ,ero recycle is the dis!osition o& the HCKO. HCKO destined &or a FCC3 "ay have so"e s!eci&ications that are controlled by the &ractionator recycle. 6his is a sur"ountable !roble"$ ho(ever any changes should be "ade in consideration o& their e&&ect on do(nstrea" units and "arketability o& the resulting !roduct. Another issue to consider$ is the reason &or decreasing recycle. Practically$ decreasing recycle increases coker charge rate. Ho(ever$ coker heater &eed gets heavier (hen recycle is re"oved. 6his "ay increase the coking rates in the coker heaters and there&ore re.uire "ore &re.uent decokes. I& ti"e bet(een decokes is decreased substantially the through!ut increase "ay not actually be reali,ed and there&ore (ould not "ake sense. 0ach o& these issues should be D(orkedE in consideration o& your location and !lant econo"ics. HRI/H5AC

e have 8F or "ore recycle in all o& our cokers and I think &or the long+ ter" in one location$ (e are looking at the ,ero recycle o!tion.