A practical model of thermal cracking of residual oil.

Abstract

A practical model of the thermal cracking of residual oil was developed. It is basically a lumping model stating reactions of hypothetical components, commonly used in petroleum refining reactions. Four lumped components were defined to represent polymerization and condensation of residue as a minimum requirement. Cracked product was arbitrarily divided into four lumps.Introduction of the atmospheric equivalent temperature to rate constants in the Arrhenius form made quantative descriptions of the effect of phase equilibrium states in the reactor on the reaction rate distinctively clear.Incorporating the residence-time distributions, the model predicted the performance of various types of thermal cracking reactors such as batch, semi-batch and CSTR (complete stirred-tank reactor), not only in laboratory experiments but also in commercial operation.