Technoeconomic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of Five VGO Processing Pathways in China

Abstract

The production of high-quality gasoline and petrochemicals using vacuum gas oil (VGO) as a raw material has tremendous industrial and economic significance. A comparative study for various VGO processing pathways in terms of their technoeconomic viability and environmental performance is presented. Five different techniques, including a novel technology, are proposed: (1) conventional fluid catalytic cracking, (2) deep catalytic cracking, (3) a novel technology, hydrogenation and two-stage riser catalytic cracking for maximizing the propylene (TMP) coupling process, (4) maximum production of petrochemicals by hydrocracking, and (5) production of benzene and p-xylene by hydrocracking. Detailed process models are developed for all of the five designs to obtain the mass and energy balances of each processing pathway. Technoeconomic analysis and life cycle assessment have been carried out. Moreover, key process parameters which affect each process have been recognized and optimized. The economic analysis shows that the hydrogenation and TMP coupling process is more profitable than the other processing pathways. The results of environmental performance analysis indicate that high-quality gasoline and light olefins manufactured from the catalytic-cracking-based process result in less life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy demand than hydrocracking-based processes on the basis of total output value per million yuan.

An economic analysis of twenty light olefin production pathways

“…The DCC produces propylene at 530-560 °C with a propylene yield ranges from 14% to 22% [24 , 25] . Other products include small amounts of ethylene, C4 fraction, and pyrolysis gasoline [26] .…”

Enhancing the Conversion of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Naphthenic Heavy Oil: Novel Process Design, Comparative Techno-Economic Analysis, and Life Cycle Assessment

“…Although full recycling hydro-LCO could be realized through the optimization of process parameters, the energy consumption will inevitably increase. In addition, basic petrochemical raw material yields in the conventional HTMP process are less than those of the hydrocracking processing pathway with paraffin-based Daqing VGO as the feedstock . If heavy oil fractions of naphthenic crude oil are adopted as the feedstock, the mass yield of basic petrochemical raw materials in the HTMP process will inevitably decrease.…”

“…The primary data of PED and GHG emissions in the stage of crude extraction and transportation are taken from the literature. , Three types of PED, such as crude oil, crude coal, and natural gas, are considered. Three kinds of GHG pollutants are considered as follows: CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O.…”

“…In our previous studies, we provided a solution to the problem of high-efficiency conversion of naphthenic aromatics to high-value products via hydrogenation and two-stage riser catalytic cracking for maximizing the propylene (HTMP) coupling process. The optimized process parameters were obtained resulting in the ring-opening conversion of naphthenic aromatics in the paraffinic and intermediate-based crude oil significantly strengthened. , The conversion rate of heavy oil could reach 86% . However, the single-pass conversion rate of hydrogenated LCO (hydro-LCO) was still relatively low (about 70%), indicating that a large number of LCO could not be fully converted.…”

A Model of Catalytic Cracking: Product Distribution and Catalyst Deactivation Depending on Saturates, Aromatics and Resins Content in Feed

“…Depending on market needs, the catalytic cracking technology can be aimed at increasing the yield of gasoline, light olefins, or light gasoil, the latter being more relevant to Europe with its high amount of diesel cars [1]. Factors affecting the products' yields include interacting operating variables in the reactor and the regenerator, catalyst deactivation, and, especially, change in the hydrocarbon type content in the feedstocks.…”