PTQ Q4 2023 Issue

Simple payback with Honeywell UOP Synthesized Air FCC, with 20% increased feed throughput

Simple payback

Reduced feed costs

Increased yields

Utilities/oxygen *

Carbon credit

Payback

Increased 20% throughput

$0/t carbon credit

N/A

$53.5 MM/yr

$31.3 MM/yr **,#

N/A

4.3 yrs

* Oxygen concentration in synthesised air stream to regenerator is 28 mol%. ** 20 MMBTU/hr of additional thermal energy is needed to close FCC heat balance, as opposed to cases in Table 1. # Additional utilities for downstream processing of additional products not included; utilities considered for Synthesized Air FCC only.

Table 2

saving $24 million per year through improved energy harvesting. The nViro FCC helps recover an additional 21 MMBtu/hr of heat from the flue gas. Processing an advan - taged feedstock together with improved system energy efficiency results in an opportunity to generate revenue on this investment that would otherwise be a simple expense. Additionally, any tax incentives/carbon credits/ government funding would make this investment even more profitable for the refiner, as shown in Table 1. As an alternate strategy, the additional 20% coke burn- ing capacity in the FCC regenerator can be translated into 20% incremental feed processing in the FCC unit. This is estimated by Honeywell UOP to result in additional product realisation of $54 million per year. With oxygen at a cost of $50/t 11 and consumption equivalent to approximately 28 mol% O 2 in synthesised air, the annual expense of oxygen is estimated to be $19 million. The other operational expenses for this technology update were estimated at $12 million per year, based on a 37,500 BPSD FCC. e This includes $29.5 million per year operating expenses on the nViro FCC and carbon capture sections while saving $17.5 million per year through improved energy harvesting. The simple payback estimate for this option is presented in Table 2 . A few considerations for equipment modifications that may be required due to increased throughput are: • Reactor, stripper, and their internals need to be checked for increased velocity and catalyst flux. • Main column heat balance needs to be reviewed and adjusted as required to compensate for the increased flow through the gas concentration unit. • CO 2 concentration in the FCC reactor effluent and the FCC off-gas will increase, therefore water wash and amine rates in the respective sections should be assessed. • Lastly, the capacity of the heat exchangers, pumps, and columns needs to be assessed. Based on Honeywell UOP process modelling and apply - ing the company’s typical process design guidelines, it was determined that for the respective cases, installing a Synthesized Air FCC CCU would reduce FCC regenerator CO 2 emissions from 1,213 t/d to 61 t/d, considering a CO 2 capture efficiency of 95%. Though the previous case studies considered an nViro FCC for flue gas treatment, Synthesized Air FCC technol - ogy is equally adaptable for units with existing wet gas scrubbers. With Synthesized Air FCC operation, the refiner can explore multiple pathways to increase the profitability of their existing FCC assets. They can leverage opportunity crudes, apply carbon credits where available, or increase

throughput. The optimal utilisation of the technology may come from a single benefit or a combination of all three. Conclusion The performed studies have demonstrated that Synthesized Air FCC technology can offer refiners a flexible and eco - nomically viable carbon capture solution to future-proof operations. This innovative technology not only reduces Scope 1 emissions from the FCCs but also from the entire refinery because FCCs typically contribute 15-25% of the emissions. 2 , 3 Moreover, opportunities for synergies with electrolysers, ASUs, and pathways to produce future-ori - ented products such as green/blue MeOH and SAF, were identified. In other words, a glimpse of the potential future of FCCs has been provided. Since the introduction of FCC technology more than 80 years ago, refiners have relied on their FCCs for their adapt - ability to stay relevant in the marketplace. With Synthesized Air FCC, the ability to co-process renewable and plas- tics-derived pyrolysis oil, and the shift to a high propylene mode of operations coupled with aromatics extraction, it becomes probable or perhaps even evident that FCCs will once again leverage their flexibility to thrive in this exciting era of energy transition. References 1 Wood Mackenzie, Refinery emissions: Implications of Carbon Tax and Mitigation Options , Nov 2021. 2 IHS Markit, Global Fundamentals Crude Oil Markets Prices Long- Term Outlook, Third Quarter, 2021. 3 CO 2 capture project; project factsheet; oxy-firing Fluid Catalytic Cracking Demonstration (www.co2captureproject.org/reports/ FACTSHEET_FCC.pdf), 2013. 4 L Dorazio, J Shi, James Fu, S S Ail, M J Castaldi, G Chowdhury, Co-processing renewable and recyclable feedstocks in the FCC unit, Catalysis 2022. 5 Nexant, TechnoEconomics; Energy & Chemicals, Air Separation Technology , Oct 2019. 6 ScienceDirect, S B Fredriksen, K-J Jens, Norner A S, Oxidative degradation of aqueous amine solutions of MEA, AMP, MDEA, Pz: A review , 2013. 7 C Avery, J Strohm, FCC pathways to co-processing, PTQ, Q4 2021 8 ScienceDirect, S A Bedell, Oxidative degradation mechanisms for amines in flue gas capture , 2009. 9 Frontiers in Energy Research, F Güleç, W Meredith, C E Snape, Progress in the CO2 capture technologies for fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units – A Review , 2020. 10 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry, P Rao, M Muller, Industrial Oxygen: Its Generation and Use , 2007.

PTQ Q4 2023