What is Happening Above Your Fluidized Bed? Tools to Maximize FCC Unit Reliability and Turnaround Cycles

摘要

The FCC Unit is the major conversion process in a refinery responsible for approximately 40% of thernU.S. gasoline pool. As such, mechanical availability is a key performance driver. The uniquernequipment associated with a fluidized bed has a preferred operating window to ensure reliablernoperation. With a properly designed air grid and internals, the maintenance cost in a fluidized bed canrnbe managed; however, that is not the case for the equipment above the fluidized bed. All too often, thernentrainment rates are unknown and many entrainment calculations are lacking in providing an accuraternrepresentation of a commercial system. This means the design of the cyclone system, and everythingrnelse in the freeboard, may not be optimized for the actual conditions. Marathon has been able to achieverngreater than 98% mechanical availability with more than five year turnaround cycles across its sevenrncat crackers through application of conventional technology and operating targets. This paper willrnshow how Particulate Solid Research, Inc. (PSRI) is developing tools to understand “What IsrnHappening Above Your Fluidized Bed” and allow industry to improve unit performance and reliability.