Large
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds with 7 or
more rings, such as coronene, can be problematic in petroleum refining
processes, where they build up over time and eventually enhance coke
formation. In this work, large PAH molecules were characterized in
a recycling stream returning the distillation bottoms of a commercial
hydrocracking reactor back into the unit. High-performance liquid
chromatography and Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass
spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) methods were in good agreement with PAH compounds
extracted with DMSO, which provided a selective way to determine PAHs
with up to 10 aromatic rings. However, after Soxhlet extraction with
pentane, PAH compounds with up to 14 aromatic rings were tentatively
identified using FT-ICR MS, extending the naphthalene zigzag pattern.
With the characterization method established, solvent extraction,
solvent precipitation, and adsorption processes were tested to remove
the problematic, large PAH compounds from the recycle stream. For
each process, including different parameters, the PAH-rich and cleaned
streams were analyzed. Adsorption on clay and adsorption on active
carbon were the most effective processes in terms of minimizing the
rejected fraction and for removing both types of aromatic compounds:
unsubstituted (“hard”) and heavily alkylated (“soft”)
PAHs. Alternatively, solvent precipitation with different n-alkanes offered a choice to increase the selectivity for
PAH through longer alkane solvents, but showed only a modest removal
with PAH remaining in the cleaned streams. Soxhlet extraction was
found to be superior in comparison to other solvent extraction processes,
yielding the PAH with the highest double bond equivalent values, even
though it remains unpractical for real-life hydrocracking operation
cleanup. Consequently, the detailed characterization by FT-ICR MS
suggests that adsorptive removal of PAH is the most effective and
practical cleanup process for the studied hydrocracker recycle stream.