PD-04-171 Catalyst Life Management with a Predictive Deactivation Model

Description:

Catalyst life management is a balancing act, especially for multi-bed and multi-reactor process units. If a unit reaches a predetermined shut-down date while one or more beds are filled with still-active catalyst, the owner may have given away profits by not pushing the unit hard enough. Conversely, if the catalyst deactivates too quickly, the unit may have to shut down prematurely. A premature shutdown can be expensive, especially if other units (a downstream FCC unit, a downstream diesel blender, or an upstream crude distillation unit) have to reduce rate or shut down early, too.