PTQ Q1 2025 Issue

Original slurry oil (SO-O)

Treated slurry oil (SO-1)

nm(10 m) -9

nm(10 m) -9 *From similar particle size distribution (PSD) of SO-1 and SO-1A, it con r med only particle sizes smaller than 44.3 nm were left in the slurry oil after ltered by UMF lter.

Duplicate treated slurry oil (SO-1A)

nm(10 m) -9

Figure 1 Particle size distribution (PSD) of original and treated slurry oil

integration, refiners can leverage a variety of advanced catalysts and technologies, including Magnetic Advanced Filtration System (MagAFS) and drop-in FCC catalyst addi- tive solutions. The following case summary focuses on a technology aimed at slurry oil (SO) upgrading. SO is one of the major FCC unit products, but with low quality and very limited applications, mainly due to its significant content of small catalyst fines (3,000-6,000 µg/g). Worldwide SO production from FCC units is huge in quan- tity. For example, even 25 years ago, FCC units in China

alone generated 5 million tons of SO annually. Therefore, the potential benefits of upgrading SO for petrochemical and fuel applications are substantial. Small catalyst fines, mostly smaller than 20 µm (10- 6m), in SO are extremely difficult to remove. Conventional methods, such as gravity sedimentation, centrifugal sepa- ration, filtration, and electrostatic precipitation, are inef- fective for fines removal, especially nanometer size (nm, 10-9m) particles. The development of an effective process for removing catalyst fines from SO to upgrade its qual- ity to transportation fuels and improved petrochemical applications is not only profitable but also environmentally preferred. MagAFS technology has been developed to remove par- ticles larger than 50 nm. The tests were conducted in a lab UMF unit consisting of two magnetic filtration chambers connected in series. Typical compositions of the tested SO are listed in Table 2 . SO was fed through the lab unit at a controlled flow rate. Treated SO samples at the exit of the first and sec- ond chambers were collected for particle size distribu- tion (PSD) analysis. Samples of solid particles removed by the first and second chambers were also collected for PSD analysis. Focusing on the nm size particles, PSD of the original SO (SO-O), treated SO (SO-1), and duplicate treated SO (SO-1A) are given in Figure 1 . It shows that with original SO (SO-O), more than 64% of the solid par- ticles were larger than 6,000 nm (or 6 µm). Only particles smaller than 44.3 nm were left in treated SO (SO-1). The result was confirmed by PSD in the duplicate treated SO (SO-1A). Further details of the operation are revealed in Figure

Typical compositions of the tested SO

Slurry oil source

Daqing 0.9690

Aramco 1.0162

Density, g/ml

Carbon residual, % Refractory index

4.95

7.27

1.5433

1.5797

Relative molecular weight

365

316

C, wt% H, wt% S, wt% N, wt%

87.92 10.72

88.11

9.41 1.66 0.48

0.33 <0.3

H/C

1.4528

1.2816

Ni, ppm V, ppm

1.8 0.1

8.4 2.6

Saturates, % Aromatics, %

53.3 41.9

26.7 67.0

Resin, %

4.1 0.7

4.9 1.4

Asphaltenes

Table 2

PTQ Q1 2025