A new kinetic model involving 44 lumped pseudocomponents and 70 reactions for catalytic reforming was developed to satisfy real-time optimization of the commercial counter-current continuous catalyst-regenerative reforming units. The reaction kinetic model was constructed with the equation oriented method, using the orthogonal collocation method to transform the differential equations of the kinetic model into algebraic equations with variables. The sequential quadratic programming method is used to solve the equation oriented model in this study. The validation results showed that the good agreement of material compositions and catalyst coke content at the exit of the fourth reactor, as well as the temperature and pressure at the exit of each reactor, was obtained between simulated values and industrial values. Moreover, the reactor kinetic model is also used to predict the influence of process parameters which is consistent with the trend in actual industrial production. The model makes it possible to find optimal conditions in real-time optimization.

Catalytic reforming is a key technology in the petroleum refining and petrochemical industry. In recent years, countercurrent continuous reforming has put forward and practiced the new concept of matching the activity of the catalyst with the difficulty of the reaction. Based on the equation-oriented method, the steady-state model for the reactor-regenerator section of countercurrent continuous reforming was established, including the reactor module, the regenerator module, the compressor model, the heat exchanger model, the heating furnace model, and the oil property model. The inlet and outlet of each module are connected according to the actual technological process, and the model conforms to the requirement of real-time optimization (RTO). The sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm is used for calculation in this study. The model is calibrated to make the calculated value more consistent with the actual value. The model simulation showed the trend of the reforming reaction and the difference between countercurrent reforming and cocurrent reforming. Finally, the process model was optimized for different goals such as the yield of aromatics, the yield of high-octane gasoline, and the yield of C7 + aromatics. These results indicate that the established model can simulate the actual industrial process, which can meet the requirements of RTO, and obtain considerable profits for different optimization objectives.