Regulating the Crude Oil to Chemical Process in a Multizone Fluidized Bed Reactor Using Intraparticle Heat Carriers

The catalytic cracking from crude oil to petrochemicals in one step is a profitable pathway for the future refinery. However, it requires significant improvements to solve some technological hurdles. Here we show a development of the catalyst formulation based on incorporating silicon carbide and its implications at different levels: particle shaping, thermal conductivity, fluidization and catalytic performance. The catalysts were prepared by spray drying using different catalyst formulations, SiC proportions, and particle sizes. First, we selected the best composition to shape our catalyst based on morphology and thermal conductivity. Then, we adopted the computational particle fluid dynamics method to systematically investigate the fluid dynamic and heat transfer characteristics of the selected catalyst compared with a reference commercial one in a multizone fluidized bed reactor. Finally, we compare the catalytic performances of the two catalysts during the crude oil to chemical process. Our results show that with careful consideration of all these catalytic and hydrodynamic parameters, we improve the overall process performance at both the catalytic and reactor levels with higher light olefin yield of 22%.