Performance Evaluation Studies of First- and Second-Stage Hydrocracking Catalysts Using Kuwait Vacuum Gas Oil Feedstocks

Abstract

In a two-stage hydrocracking process, two types of catalyst are used to remove undesirable contaminants (such as S, N, hydrogenation of aromatic compounds, etc.) and convert the heavy feedstock to lighter products. In the present work, individual set of experiments were conducted to obtain information regarding activity and selectivity with emphasis on the evaluation of kinetic parameters of first- and second-stage commercial catalysts used in hydrocracking process. The performance tests were conducted in a down-flow fixed-bed hydrocracking pilot plant using a single reactor. The hydrotreating type A catalyst and hydrocracking type B catalyst were used individually with typical Kuwaiti refinery feedstocks, namely, hydrotreated vacuum gas oil (HVGO) and unconverted residual oil (UCRO), respectively. The order of reaction in this study shows first-order kinetics for HDS and HDN over CAT-A, and first-order hydrocracking conversion over CAT-B. For CAT-A the activation energies were found for HDS and HDN reactions at 22 and 27.3 kcal/gmole, while for CAT-B activation energies were 27.4 kcal/gmole.