Feedstock physicochemical characteristics
Parameter Density, g/cc
Pilot plant
Commercial
1.014 23.39
1.0232
CCR, wt%
22.4 6.57 5.28
Asphaltene, wt% Sulphur, wt% Metals, ppm Ni/V/Fe/Na/Ca
7.8
5.73
53/211/6/47/3
82/180/9/32/7
Figure 1 Pilot plant at IOCL R&D centre
Table 1
Experimental IOCL R&D houses a 1 Bbl/day thermal cracking pilot plant (see Figure 1 ) with provision for mild cracking as well as delayed coking of residue fractions. For the development of the technology, pilot-scale experiments were carried out, and the yield was compared for the base case coker and Ind-Coker AT . Feed and product characterisation A high-sulphur VR feed sample was arranged from Panipat Refinery for conducting the study. Various analytical techniques were employed to determine the physicochemical characteristics of the samples, and the feed property is provided in Table 1 . Experimentation in the thermal cracking pilot plant As a first step, a base case experiment was conducted in the DC pilot plant simulating delayed coking conditions using VR feedstock
with the physicochemical properties described in Table 1. The process conditions from the base case experiment are provided in Table 2 . In the second step, an experiment was carried out to simulate the Ind-Coker AT configuration. A comparison of pilot-scale Advanced Coker yields and the base case yields is provided in Figure 2 . Improvements in diesel range product and reductions in coke and fuel oil yields were observed in the pilot scale. Demonstration on a commercial scale Considering the significant benefits obtained in the pilot-scale demonstration, it was decided to carry out commercial demonstration runs of the technology at Panipat Refinery. A typical high-sulphur VR feedstock was selected for the demonstration run, and its properties are provided in Table 1. A base case test run was carried out in the commercial DCU at operating conditions of 1 kg/cm²g pressure, 486°C drum bottom temperature, and 12% recycle rate. The product yields from the base case test run are provided in Table 3 . The second run was carried out corresponding to Ind-Coker AT technology. A comparison of product yields from the base case DCU vs Ind- Coker AT technology commercial runs is provided in Table 3 and Figure 3 .
15 10 25 30 35 20 40
Base c ase Ind - Coker c ase
Pilot plant operating parameters
0 5
Run duration
hr
12
COT
°C °C
495 486 1.05
Product
Drum inlet temperature
DCD pressure
kg/cm²g
Figure 2 Pilot-scale yield comparison of conventional DCU vs Ind-Coker AT
Table 2
Refining India
43
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