A Novel Method to Investigate the Activity Tests of Fresh FCC Catalysts: An Experimental and Prediction Process from Lab Scale to Commercial Scale

Abstract

The issues of feedstocks, product markets, and environmental emissions have continuously proposed a number of challenges for industrial evaluation of fresh fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst before its application in commercial units. In this work, a convenient method was proposed by comparing with the existing commercial equilibrium catalyst. A series of laboratory experiments for steam treatments and microactivity tests were established to collect reliable data, and the standalone catalyst or co-catalysts were assessed to show the evaluation process and the predicted unit performance. The results had deviation, but a consistent yield distribution than that of a commercial equilibrium catalyst. These evaluations and predictions would provide us with not only the view of hydrothermal stability and yield distribution at the unit level, but also the economic potential for fresh catalyst based on the existing industrial catalyst, which will provide refiners with industrial basis for further decisions.