Testing of resid FCC catalysts in MAT Original Research Article

Employing atmospheric residues when testing FCC catalysts in MAT often faces serious problems with poor mass balances and interrupted operation due to coking of the equipment. When changing to a feed-injection tube made by electroformed nickel (EFNI) in the Statoil MAT unit, the scattering in mass balances was reduced by a factor of four, and the number of interrupted test series was decreased by a factor of two. The reason for the improved results, using an EFNI tube, is the materials lower tendency to form coke, and consequent reduction in clogging.