FCC catalyst attrition behavior at high temperatures

In this work, high temperature attrition was studied in a standard attrition set-up to mimic the FCC regenerator environment with mechanical attrition. Operating conditions were modified in this pilot due to the application of high temperatures. Two parameters, i.e., time and temperature in the ranges of 1 to 5h and 673-973K, were surveyed, respectively. The behavior of attrition and mass loss was then modeled and validated. At higher temperatures mass loss response sensitivity became larger. Finally, PSD and SEM tests were used to investigate the attrition mechanism. In the ambient tests, abrasion was significant while at higher temperatures, fragmentation was considerable. PSD plots shifted into larger particles and SEM images showed those changes as well. In addition, significant reshaping in the PSD curves indicated particle cracking at high temperatures.