{"title":"CFD modeling investigation of oxy-fuel combustion application in an industrial-scale FCC regenerator","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.joei.2024.101796","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The increase in atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentration and its consequential impact on climate change have elicited increased public concern. The refinery units including fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) generate substantial quantities of CO<sub>2</sub>. To mitigate the emission from the FCC process, oxy-fuel combustion has emerged as a prospective carbon capture and storage technology. This study presents the first trial for the modeling investigation of a 70 kt/a industrial FCC regenerator under the scenario of retrofitting it with oxy-fuel combustion technology. Employing the Eulerian-Eulerian model, a CFD model integrating heat transfer and coke combustion reactions has been established. The detailed hydrodynamics, temperature, and species concentration distribution inside the regenerator are obtained under both air-firing and oxy-firing conditions, which are further compared to exploit the possibility of oxy-fuel combustion retrofitting. As has been found, decreases in gas temperature and carbon conversion rate were observed for 21 % O<sub>2</sub>/79 % CO<sub>2</sub> atmosphere in comparison to the air reference case due to the differences in gas properties between N<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub>. This discrepancy resulted in a drop of 17 K in dilute phase temperature and 2 K in dense phase temperature. The bed density also exhibited a large with the oxy-firing conditions, with notable observations revealing a lower bed density below a height of 4.2 m, transitioning to a higher density above said height. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted for three principal operating parameters, including superficial gas velocity, oxygen partial pressure, and catalyst circulation rate. An increase of oxygen partial pressure to 27 % or a decrease of the catalyst circulation rate to 20.7 kg/s proved effective in achieving the same temperature profile and even a slightly better carbon conversion in comparison to air-firing regeneration.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":17287,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Energy Institute","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743967124002745/pdfft?md5=77501723c00248837cf95df95dc49662&pid=1-s2.0-S1743967124002745-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of The Energy Institute","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743967124002745","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENERGY & FUELS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration and its consequential impact on climate change have elicited increased public concern. The refinery units including fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) generate substantial quantities of CO2. To mitigate the emission from the FCC process, oxy-fuel combustion has emerged as a prospective carbon capture and storage technology. This study presents the first trial for the modeling investigation of a 70 kt/a industrial FCC regenerator under the scenario of retrofitting it with oxy-fuel combustion technology. Employing the Eulerian-Eulerian model, a CFD model integrating heat transfer and coke combustion reactions has been established. The detailed hydrodynamics, temperature, and species concentration distribution inside the regenerator are obtained under both air-firing and oxy-firing conditions, which are further compared to exploit the possibility of oxy-fuel combustion retrofitting. As has been found, decreases in gas temperature and carbon conversion rate were observed for 21 % O2/79 % CO2 atmosphere in comparison to the air reference case due to the differences in gas properties between N2 and CO2. This discrepancy resulted in a drop of 17 K in dilute phase temperature and 2 K in dense phase temperature. The bed density also exhibited a large with the oxy-firing conditions, with notable observations revealing a lower bed density below a height of 4.2 m, transitioning to a higher density above said height. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted for three principal operating parameters, including superficial gas velocity, oxygen partial pressure, and catalyst circulation rate. An increase of oxygen partial pressure to 27 % or a decrease of the catalyst circulation rate to 20.7 kg/s proved effective in achieving the same temperature profile and even a slightly better carbon conversion in comparison to air-firing regeneration.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of the Energy Institute provides peer reviewed coverage of original high quality research on energy, engineering and technology.The coverage is broad and the main areas of interest include:
Combustion engineering and associated technologies; process heating; power generation; engines and propulsion; emissions and environmental pollution control; clean coal technologies; carbon abatement technologies
Emissions and environmental pollution control; safety and hazards;
Clean coal technologies; carbon abatement technologies, including carbon capture and storage, CCS;
Petroleum engineering and fuel quality, including storage and transport
Alternative energy sources; biomass utilisation and biomass conversion technologies; energy from waste, incineration and recycling
Energy conversion, energy recovery and energy efficiency; space heating, fuel cells, heat pumps and cooling systems
Energy storage
The journal''s coverage reflects changes in energy technology that result from the transition to more efficient energy production and end use together with reduced carbon emission.