FCC stripper - distribution studies
A Tracerco Diagnostics™ Distribution study can be performed to identify catalyst and vapor distribution in the stripper. Uniform distribution of catalyst and steam in the stripper is critical to achieve high stripping efficiency (less carry-down of the hydrocarbon products from reactor to regenerator). A failure to effectively remove the hydrocarbon from the catalyst will result in a loss of product, loss of throughput, and lowered catalyst activity due to increased regenerator bed temperature. Project Field Test
Tracerco was contacted to conduct distribution studies for a leading refiner that was experiencing issues on their FCC stripper.
Identifying maldistribution can be accurately characterized using tracer injections with detectors positioned in the pattern shown in Figure 1. Separate injections are made of a gas tracer into the stripping steam and a catalyst tracer into the riser.
Project Analysis
Figures 2 and 3 show vapor and catalyst distribution in the stripper of one FCC. Results from the stripper distribution study show 62% of the catalyst to be passing through the North quadrant at the bottom of the stripper and only 19% of the steam passing through the same area. This imbalance of steam to catalyst ratio in the North quadrant resulted in inadequate stripping of the hydrocarbons from the catalyst. A good explanation of why the regen temperatures were too high.
Customer Conclusion
Proper FCC stripper operation is important for the recovery of as much hydrocarbon as possible. The Tracerco Diagnostics™ Distribution results can aid Tracerco customers to identify problematic operations and make modifications to increase efficiency.
The study can also identify problem areas for upcoming turnarounds to assist in scheduling maintenance, resulting in an on-time turnaround performance.
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FCC stripper - distribution studies
A Tracerco Diagnostics™ Distribution study can be performed to identify catalyst and vapor distribution in the stripper. Uniform distribution of catalyst and steam in the stripper is critical to achieve high stripping efficiency (less carry-down of the hydrocarbon products from reactor to regenerator). ...
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Exchanger leak testing - chemical tracers
Tracerco has been at the forefront of the development of online leak detection for the last 40 years. The method allows the detection of leaks as small as 0.5%. However, customer demands to measure smaller leaks affecting product quality, has prompted extensive research to develop alternative online ...
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Providing real time measurement technologies to assist with critical decision making. Tracerco Scanning Services TRU-SCAN® Application. Do you have problems with the operation of your stripper/absorber or fractionation tower? Is this limiting production? Do you want to reduce your operating costs? ...
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Tracerco Diagnostics™ FCCU Study
The Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU) is the economic heart of a modern refinery. Even small increases in its yield can bring about significant overall gains in productivity and revenue. Tracerco is a world leading industrial technology company providing unique and specialized detection, diagnostic ...
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Measurement instruments and servicing
Our Measurement Instruments business designs and manufactures a range of bespoke, low maintenance, high reliability instruments providing operators with real time measurements and in-situ visualisation. Our experienced team technically supports an extensive range of nucleonic measurement instruments ...
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Making desalter vessels transparent to optimise crude processing
Making Desalter Vessels Transparent to Optimise Crude Processing... whatever the blend. To improve margins, refiners continuously look to optimise feedstock blends. Variability can bring significant operational challenges during the refining process that must be overcome. One critical need is the efficient ...
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Moving gamma scanning forward — quantitative analysis of tray capacity
Improving process operating margins can include maximising production of higher value products and/or minimising production costs. Process plants depend heavily on fractionation towers to produce products meeting customer specifications. Tower gamma scanning is well established in the process industries ...
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PackView™ - quantitative analysis of packing mal-distribution
The last issue of Tracerco Insight (Vol 6 Ed 1) featured our patent pending FrothView™ technology illustrating how using Tracerco’s new measurement detector technology and analysis of gamma scan data provides quantitative information about the useful capacity of trayed towers. In this article ...
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In FCC Units (Fluidised Catalyst Cracking Units) the atmospheric residue from the distillation is cracked to LPG, naptha and other components. This sometimes leads to “invisible” deposits inside the Riser. This article features Tracerco’s ThruVision™ scans to illustrate how the ...
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A Windows based application offering dynamic displays, diagnostics, trending, control and historical logging. The Profiler™HMI, is a ready-made graphical user interface that provides clear insight into your separation process while enabling efficient operation and control of the Profiler™GPS ...
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