Pergamon
0098-1354(95)ooo73-9
THE VISBREAKING
them. Engng
Politecnico di Milan0 - Chem. Eng. Dept. G. Natta - P.zza L. Da Vinci, 32 - Milan0 -Italy
* K.T.I. S.p.A. - Via Ripamonti, 133 - Milan0 - Italy
ABSTRACT
The visbreaking process is adopted by many refineries. It consists of a liquid phase pyrolysis of
atmospheric or vacuum residues with the aim of increasing the production of light fractions and
simultaneously reducing the viscosity of the visbroken residues. In spite of the economical
importance of this operation, the literature is lacking of scientific informations; only empirical
models have been presented. Major difficulties are constituted by the huge number of components
and reactions that is characterising the system and by the relatively poor level of the available data
for the feedstock characterisation. Due to the complexity of the feed to the reactor also the
characterisation of the products properties, besides their amount, presents considerable problems.
The results coming from a mechanistic approach are here presented. They are compared with
experimental data from literature, research lab tests and commercial units. Moreover they are
covering different aspects like fouling in the coils, effluents amounts and properties (residues
stability, sulphur and asphaltenes content, viscosity, specific gravity, Conradson carbon residue
and so on). The developed model constitutes a valid support for the understanding and prediction
of the complex phenomena that are occurring during the HC liquid phase pyrolysis and can find a
practical and important application both for improving the visbreaking furnaces design and for
monitoring and control of the V.B. operations.
KEYWORDS
Visbreaking; pyrolysis; fouling; residues stability
KINETICS
ASPECTS
Some of the rules and criteria followed facing on this problem are similar to those ones
successfully adopted in an extended gas-phase pyrolysis kinetic scheme. The complexity of the
molecular characterisation of these systems has been resolved (Dente et al., 1993) by lumping the
huge number of real components into a relatively limited number of pseudo-components.
For
every pseudocomponent it has been proposed a specific reaction fate taking also into account the
probability of scission of the different kind of bonds. The global kinetic mechanism is
characterised by initiation, P-scission, H-abstraction, substitution and recombination reactions.
Due to the liquid phase state, molecular rotational movements of the C-C segments are limited so
that isomerization reactions of the radicals can be practically neglected.
S205
s206
The kinetic constants (frequency factors and activation energies) of the reactions involving
paraffines, aromatics, olefines and diolefines, have been derived from the equivalent ones of an
hypothetical equivalent gas phase (where consolidated rules are already available, Dente et al.,
1992). The equivalent constants in the liquid phase have been obtained through correction factors
of the activation entropies and activation energies for the transposition into the condensed state
(Benson, 1960).
S207
COIL+SOAKER
?
r
$j
5
0.006
0.005
COIL
COIL+SOAKER
lD-
40
60
120
160
20
6O
200
40
60
DAYS
80
100
120
140
160
TIME (DAYS)
COIL+SOAKER
COIL
DAY: 5
630 610.
590 -
0.0
0.1
0.2
o.,
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.6
6.9
1.0
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.6
0.9
1.D
PRODUCTS PROPERTIES
A rigorous visbreaking simulation model cannot neglect the prediction of products properties like
viscosity, specific gravity, sulphur and asphaltenes content, Conradson Carbon Residue and
residue stability. The last one is the most important so that it is necessary to spend some words on
it.
S208
Asphaltenes can be figured like polycatacondensed aromatic rings (the experimental H/C ratio
confirm their aromatic nature) with short pa&ink side chain, whereas still can be defined as
aromatics the same type of components with a longer side chain. During the pyrolysis the last
ones are decomposed so that the content of asphahenes in the residue increases. The final
mixture, constituted by aromatics, asphaltenes, olefines, diolefines and paraffines, is a typical
colloidal solution. Asphaltenes can join and flocculate giving place to muds; this phenomenon
limits the visbreaking severity so that the prediction of residue stability can be of real help in
determining the best operating conditions.
By now the most commonly accepted stability index is the peptisation value (PV): it is
determined by adding to a certain amount of residue increasing quantities of cetane (Cl,) till the
beginning of asphaltenes flocculation. Cetane is used in order to simulate the addition of the worst
possible fluxant cutter stock to the residue. The preferred operating values to be maintained in
v&breaking operations are in the range of 1.l-l .2.
The problem of PV modelling can be approached by representing the system with three
macroclasses of pseudo-components: aromatics, asphaltenes and paraffines, (the last
grouping paraffines, olefines and diolefines). The Hildebrand method for the study of mixtures
stability against separation, based on the determination of the mixing free energy minima in order
to find the unmixing area, is very sensitive if applied to the considered system. The mixture can be
considered as formed by two phases that are compatible only under certain conditions. The first
one is constituted by aromatics and paraf&es, the latter by aromatics and asphaltenes.
Aromatics are adsorbed on asphahenes so that the last ones are kept hidden to the
paraffines with whom they are incompatibles. The coverage degree can be inferred (through the
molecular structure of aromatics and that of asphaltenes) together with the critical
concentration of aromatics, parafIines and asphahenes after their precipitation starts taking
place. The coverage degree is also directly related to the sulphur content in the asphaltenes. In
fact S atoms are larger than C atoms so that a major amount of aromatics is needed in order to
assure asphaltenes coverage. The repartition constant of aromatics is given by the ratio
between the activity coefficient of adsorbed aromatics and that present in the maltenic phase.
The last one is correlated to the Hildebrand solubility parameters that has been obtained through
the analysis of some experimental data available from literature (typically a group contribution
method has been specifically developed for this problem).
The results obtained by adopting this phenomenological approach, when compared with
experimental data, are in a very good agreement, both in the prediction of the PV of the
feedstocks and of the visbroken residues at different severity. Next figure presents the comparison
between experimental and simulation data: the lines are showing the experimental average error in
PV determination. Experimental data are referred to industrial plants, to research lab tests (priv.
comm.) and to pilot plant (Di Carlo, 1992).
EXP. PV
S2O!J
0.5
0.7
0.0
1.1
1 3 1.5
1.7
1.0
2.1 2,
EXP. GASOLINE
EXP.CAS
14
.4
.:
13
EXP. LGO
EXP. HGO
94.
.,:
80
80
s
82
84
86
EXP. 350f
88
90
RESIDUE
,
92
.
94
EXP. 500+
RESIDUE
Table 1 shows the comparison between experimental data and calculated effluent yields and
products properties for some commercial cases. The first two cases are related to a coil plus
soaker configuration of the reactor whereas the third one is typical of the same reactor without
soaker.
s210
Table 1
I
Inlet temp.
C
Outlet temp.
OC
Outlet pressure
bar
Total residence time min
326
455
12
24 (with soak.)
330
450
12
26 (with soak.)
326
468
183
9
2070
620
10.5
18.0
3.8
1.8
0.5
QOO
0.730
0.70
6.9
65
<315
0.85
2.0
1.4
1.9
33
7.1
c390
11.9
18.9
2.0
0.4
0.730
0.75
7.0
66
17.2
25.3
1.9
0.4
0.729
0.66
6.6
56
0.86
1.9
1.4
2.0
31
7.1
-
13400
2800
17
23
3.4
1.9
0.4
Cl95
0.738
0.65
6.8
51.
Q90
0.85
1.9
1.3
2.1
29
5.0
<385
0.95
0.96
0.89
6.6
4.2
2.2
22
6.6
>305
1.04
530
1.15
3.7
20
24
84.9
7.2
4.6
3.1
23
6.9
500
1.11
3.7
19
22
83.9
5.8
3.9
2.5
21
7
>285
1.05
1414
1.27
3.2
25
27
87.0
1.07
1900
1.14
3.3
22
25
86.4
Vacuum Residues
Operating
Conditions
FEEDSTOCK
GAS
GASOLINE
E
F
F
L
U
E
N
T
LGO
HGG
TAR+HGO
(39*!5:
C)
1.06
<340
0.86
8.0
15.4
1.8
0.3
0.74
0.93
4.0
66
0.88
2.0
2.4
9.1
<395
9.2
-
0.90
0.91
0.92
6.3
4.1
2.7
20
7.7
2.1
6.1
>510
1.06
1.2
3.8
17.5
61.6
17.2
2.4
0.94
0.86
1.8
1.3
1.8
32
5.1
-
1680
5.7
17.7
3.47
2.0
0.3
<175
0.73
0.78
3.9
2.6
6.2
1.06
1.3
3.6
17.8
61.5
17.2
2.6
0.94
REFERENCES
Al So&I, Savaya, Z.F., Mohammed, H.K. and Al-Azawi, 1.A. (1988). Thermal conversion (visbreaking) of heavy
Iraqi residue. Fuel, 67, 1714-1715.
Benson, S.W. (1960).The Foundations of Chemical Kinetics, McGraw Hill, N.Y.
Dente, M., Pierucci, S., Ranzi, E. and Bussani, G. (1992). New improvements in modeling kinetic schemes for
hydrocarbons pyrolysis reactors. Chem.Eng.Sc.. 47, No.9-11, 2629-2634.
Dente, M., Bozzano, G. and Rossi M. (1993). Reactor and kinetic modelling of the visbreaking process.
Proceedings of First Conf. on Chem. and Proc. Eng.,l63-172
Di Carlo, S. and Janis,B. (1992). Composition and visbreakability of petroleum residues. Chem.Eng.Sc., 47, No.91l,June-Aug.1992, 2695-2700
Zimmerman, G., Dente, M. and Van Leeuwen, C. (1990). On the mechanism of the fouling, AIChE meeting,
Orlando, FL, March 18-22.