AM-17-76 FCC Product Fractionation for Maximum LCO Production

Description:

For situations that favor increasing production of diesel fuel over motor gasoline, refineries may choose to maximize the recovery of LCO produced in the FCC reactor as part of the solution to maximizing refinery diesel production. At a set reactor conversion, there are three primary pathways by which loss of LCO boiling range material can occur: • Loss in FCC gasoline product • Loss in FCC slurry oil product. • Loss and degradation when recycled with heavy cycle oil or slurry oil to the FCC reactor. In this paper, traditional and alternative FCC product fractionation schemes are compared as means of preventing the loss or degradation of LCO from the FCC process. While preventing loss of LCO boiling range material in the slurry oil product can be well accomplished with traditional fractionation systems, it has been found that more effective fractionation schemes are needed to minimize LCO boiling range oils in heavy oil recycle streams.