Identification of Metal Contaminants on FCC Catalyst

Abstract

FCC Catalyst deactivation is a major source of expense in the refining industry. Of concern is the deposition of contaminant metals onto the catalyst particles, leading to premature deactivation. Samples of used catalyst were collected from a working refinery using the standard sampling ports. These samples were subjected to surface examination by Scanning Electron Microscope, and to X‐ray Micro Analysis to determine elementary composition of key metals. Particle mapping was conducted to obtain cross sectional composition of both used and fresh catalyst. It was found that metals preferentially deposit onto the outside of the catalyst particles, presumably causing premature de‐activation to occur. Although the particles are found in a high attrition environment, the metal deposits formed a rough outer surface on the particle. Mild attrition of these particles was found to remove this outside layer of material and help to restore the original chemical make up of the particles surface. This work has shown how refineries can investigate metal deposition onto particles surfaces which will help them better manage FCCU catalyst usage.

Comparison of Two Lab Simulation Methods of Multiple Heavy Metal Contamination on FCC Catalysts

“…Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) technology has been and remains one of the most important processes in the petroleum refinery industry for transforming heavy fractions to more valuable fuels such as gasoline, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), olefinic gases, and other products [1,2]. In recent years, with an increase in the degree of deterioration of crude oil, a large number of metals, such as vanadium [3,4], nickel [5,6], iron [7,8], sodium [9,10], etc., have been deposited on FCC catalysts, which causes the activity of the FCC catalyst to decrease and significantly changes the product distribution of the FCC reaction, causing serious economic losses to the enterprise [11]. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate this metal contamination and accelerate the improvement of FCC catalysts with higher metal capacities.…”