Residue Conversion Pathways: Hyvahl ™ & H-Oil ®

Duc Nguyen Hong

1

Agenda

• A technological solution for every problem

• Production of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil with Hyvahl™ fixed bed technology

• Resid Hydroconversion through Axens H-OilRC® ebullated bed technology

• Pushing conversion one step forward by combining H-Oil with other units

2

Process Mapping

Net VR Conversion,%

800

300

200

100

0 … 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

H-OilRC®

Ebullated Bed

1000

Ni + V in the Feed, wppm

Hyvahl™ Fixed Bed

H-OilRC®

Ebullated Bed

+ Other units

3

Agenda

• A technological solution for every problem

• Production of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil with Hyvahl™ fixed bed technology

• Resid Hydroconversion through Axens H-OilRC® ebullated bed technology

• Pushing conversion one step forward by combining H-Oil with other units

4

RDS: Hyvahl Characteristics

Feed AR / VR

Hydrogen

Gas

Treatment

Fractionation

Section

PRS Guard Reactors

R1A R1B

• Fixed bed process from AR to 100% VR hydrodesulfurization

• Can process feeds with high metals content using “PRS” technology

• Low to medium diesel production: 20-25%

• Hydrotreated Residue applications: • ULSFO and stable fuel oil

• Excellent feed for resid FCC unit (R2R)

5

Agenda

• A technological solution for every problem

• Production of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil with Hyvahl™ fixed bed technology

• Resid Hydroconversion through Axens H-OilRC® ebullated bed technology

• Pushing conversion one step forward by combining H-Oil with other units

6

Axens H-Oil Process

• First unit started in 1968 • Nine units in operation today • Five units in design/construction • Two recent awards

Total capacity: > 800, 000 BPSD

• Internal recycle of liquid • Nearly isothermal • Low and constant pressure drop • Daily addition/withdrawal of catalyst • No cycle length

Ebullated-Bed Reactor

7

H-Oil Improvements

Make-Up

H2

Resid Feed

Heater

Heater

HP Air

Cooler

HP HT

Separator

Inter Stage

Separator

MP HT

Separator

MP LT

Separator

MP Abs

HP Abs

HP Mem PSA Fuel Gas 1st

Stage 3rd

Stage 2nd

Stage

Naphtha Gasoil VGO VR

Sour Gas

H-Oil design features

• IS²: Inter-Stage Separator

• Optimized Hydrogen management

• C²U: Cascade Catalyst Utilization

Fresh Catalyst

Used Catalyst H-Oil

Reactors

Atmospheric & Vacuum

Fractionation

HP LT

Separator

8

HCO/VR Co-processing: Pilot Plant Study

VR HCO

Origin URAL URAL

Density, kg/m3

Gravity, °API

1.005

9.1

1.089

-1.7

Sulphur, %W 2.65 2.32

Nitrogen, wtppm 5 500 2 500

Ni + V, wtppm 203 < 2

CCR, %W 15.3 5.9

IP375, %W < 0.01 -

90% VR + 10% HCO

100% VR + 0% HCO

85% VR + 15% HCO

95% VR + 5% HCO

• Objective: Analysis of HCO (aromatic stream) effect on unit stability

• Test carried out on a 2 stages true ebullated bed pilot

• Target: 70% conversion in stable operation

9

Conversion Trend with HCO in VR 15% HCO 10% HCO 5% HCO 0% HCO

Objective reached:

70 to 75% conversion

10

Atm. Residue Stability Trend

Conversion

Atm

. R

esid

ue

Sed

imen

ts

Stable Fuel Oil

11

Targeting High Reliability

HCO co-processing reduces asphaltenes

precipitation

RELIABILITY AT

HIGH CONVERSION

Low sediment catalyst convert

preferentially asphaltenes rather

than resins

DESIGN

Control of sedimentation

& handle fouling

CATALYST

CHEMISTRY

12

Industrial Results Unit Availability (%)

Additional contributing factors • Operator training

• Preventive maintenance

• Communication & Feedback

(Users seminar + unit follow-up)

• Operating instructions

• R&D support

• Ebullating pump reliability

Average on 4 units

13

Agenda

• A technological solution for every problem

• Production of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil with Hyvahl™ fixed bed technology

• Resid Hydroconversion through Axens H-OilRC® ebullated bed technology

• Pushing conversion one step forward by combining H-Oil with other units

14

H-Oil vs. Coker

• Technology: Mature and

commercially proven

• Advantage: High Diesel

yield and ability to control

product quality

• Drawback: High pressure

with catalyst requirement

and H2 consumption

• Technology: Mature and

commercially proven

• Advantage: Low OPEX

• Drawback: Coke + poor

products properties and

low distillates selectivity

H-OIL COKER

Rather than in competition, H-Oil and Coker

can show synergy towards higher conversion

15

H-OilRC + Coking Association

H-OilRC@ 70%

Net Conv.

Unconv. VR

Feed

Coker

Coke

540

C- Prod.

540

C- Prod.

Overall Net conversion: 87.2% with high liquid yields

H2

100.0

• H-Oil operated at 70% conversion

• Unconv. VR routed to coker

• No Fuel Oil produced but Coke

100.0

30.0

12.8

16

H-OilRC + Coking Association Advantages

• No more Fuel Oil produced

• Increase of Naphtha and Diesel Yields (both by 20 to 25%) compared to a stand alone H-Oil

High Liquid Yields

Two steps Process

Anode Grade Coke

• H-Oil to increase conversion and Diesel production

• Coker (low capacity) for anode grade coke and no more Fuel Oil

• Less than 35% coke yield out of Unconverted VR

• Anode grade coke with less S and low metals content

17

H-OilRC + Coking Association - Husky Unit

The unit is operated for 20 years and the coke is sold as

anode grade on the market (3 times the price of fuel grade) 18

H-OilRC + SDA Association

• Conversion is limited for stability purpose

• A solution to push forward the conversion is to get rid of the asphaltenes

through the Solvent DeAsphalting process (Solvahl)

Overall conversion is pushed to about 90% No more Fuel Oil is produced

Middle Distillates production is increased

H-OILRC SDA

Gas

Naphtha

Diesel

Pitch

Feed DAO

70% conversion VGO

Unconverted VR

100

H2

30.0

9.7

19

H-OILRC

Reactor

SDA

H-OILDC

Gas

Naphtha

Diesel

Pitch

Feed and Hydrogen VGO &

DAO

Ultimate conversion toward

Diesel

H-OilRC + SDA + H-OilDC Association for High Conversion

High conversion level Minimize OPEX for VT cleaning

Maintain continuous VGO production Minimize CAPEX

• Asphaltenes rejection in SDA allows increasing the conversion in the

second ebullated bed reactor.

20

Arabian Heavy Vacuum Residue Feedstock

Items Unit Arabian Heavy

Gravity °API 4.6

Hydrogen wt % 10.07

Nitrogen wt % 0.46

Sulfur wt % 4.72

Oxygen wt % 0.23

Nickel wt % 56

Vanadium wt % 179

CCR wt % 24.7

Pentane Insolubles wt % 17.5

Heptane Insolubles wt % 8.0

21

50

60

70

80

90

100

1 2 3 4 5 6

Comparison of High Conversion Routes Arabian Heavy VR

H-OilRC H-OilRC + Coker H-OilRC + SDA

Conversion, wt% Liquid yield, wt% Liquid selectivity, wt/wt

22

H-OilRC + HCAT additive

Catalyst

Withdrawal

Catalyst

Addition

Supported Catalyst

Pellet

Large oil molecules cannot

enter catalyst pores

Active Catalyst

Site Pore

H2

Catalytic

Reaction Zone

Thermal

Reaction Zone

x

H+

Products & Sediment

• Large Asphaltenic Hydrocarbons Diffusion Limited to Supported Catalyst

• Thermal Reactions Occur Outside the Ebullated Catalyst Bed

Hydrogen

Hot Feed

23

H-OilRC + HCAT additive Products with

Less Fouling

Catalyst

Withdrawal

Catalyst

Addition

Hydrogen

Hot Feed

Supported Catalyst

Pellet

HCAT catalyst

hydrogenates outside EB

catalyst particles

Active Catalyst

Site Pore

H2

H+

Catalytic

Reactions in

Entire Zone

• Higher conversion (5-10%)

• Higher throughput also possible

• Reduced asphaltenes, even at higher conversion

• Higher on-stream time; better operability

24

Summary

• Hyvahl Fixed Bed technology gives the opportunity to produce ULSFO

• H-Oil is a proven technology allowing high conversion of residue when using low sediment catalysts and co-processing HCO with the VR feed

• H-OilRC and Coker association gives high liquid yields, allows anode grade coke production without any Fuel Oil

• H-OilRC and SDA association gives high conversion with high middle distillates yields

• H-OilRC, SDA and H-OilDC association gives high conversion with better operability

• H-OilRC with HCAT additive gives high flexibility to operators especially with opportunity crudes

Axens has an extensive experience in

Resid upgrading and continues to improve

technologies to maximize profitability 25