Comparisons of FCC product yields and qualities between reactors using Canadian heavy feeds

This study describes the effects of two catalysts, an octane-barrel and a bottoms-cracking catalyst, on the catalytic cracking of 10 oil-sands bitumen-derived feeds in fixed- and fluid-bed microactivity test (MAT) units, an Advanced Cracking Evaluation (ACE) unit, and a continuous riser pilot unit. This is part of a comprehensive study of the cracking behavior of Canadian vacuum gas oils. In general, at an equivalent catalyst/oil ratio, conversions decreased in the order ACE > fixed-bed MAT > fluid-bed MAT among the batch reactors. Between a batch reactor and the continuous riser, there existed a good correlation for a given product yield as well as for a given product quality, at a specific conversion. For the oil-sands-derived vacuum gas oils, the bottoms-cracking catalyst containing rare-earth-exchanged Y zeolite (REY) with a large-pore active matrix was more effective than the catalyst containing the rare-earth-exchanged ultrastable Y (REUSY) and ZSM-5 zeolites with an active matrix. The overall distribution of feed sulfur in cracked products, and the relationship of the sulfur content of feed with that of light cycle oil (LCO), confirmed the findings reported in the literature.