Fluid catalytic cracking hits 50 year mark on the run

Abstract

As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the start-up of the first commercial fluid catalytic cracker, it seems appropriate that we examine some of the background and details of that auspicious event and how it came about. Not only was this the birth of what rapidly became the world's major refining process, but also the beginning of fluidization technology that reached outside the oil industry. This paper reports on the advantages of a fluidized bed, with or without circulation, over fixed-bed, gas/solid contacting that were quickly recognized within the chemical industry. And practical applications, particularly as a chemical reactor, were soon developed in diverse areas other than catalytic cracking. By 1956, over 500 U.S. patent applications for fluidized bed processes had been granted. By 1967, fluidized reactors were in commercial use for naphtha hydroforming, fluid coking, coal carbonization, coal coking, chemicals production iron ore reduction, roasting of sulfide ores, limestone calcination, uranium processing, and other processes. Fluidization continues today as a major component of chemical engineering technology, with a steady stream of improved understanding of this complex operation, new developments, and commercial operations.