AM-17-40 Novel Approaches to Controlling Contaminant Levels in Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO)

Description:

For many refiners, the amount of VGO that their vacuum distillation units (VDU) can generate is a critical constraint. Have you ever tried to lift more from the vacuum residue (VR) in order to fill the hydrocracker, fluidised catalytic cracker (FCC) or other conversion unit, only for that downstream unit to suffer reliability issues as a consequence? When lifting additional VGO with standard hardware, elevated levels of metals and other harmful contaminants can be entrained in the VGO. However, with the latest technology it is possible to increase the VGO yield of a VDU substantially, at low cost, and without affecting the downstream units’ reliability. Several refiners worldwide have reported cost-effectively increasing the capacity and reliability of their VDUs by revamping them using Shell deep-flash technology. Crucially, this also improves the quality of the VGO that the unit provides; The deep-flash technology keeps the levels of contaminants such as nickel, vanadium and Conradson carbon residue (CCR) to within the conversion unit’s acceptable limits, thereby safeguarding their reliability.