CFD modeling investigation of oxy-fuel combustion application in an industrial-scale FCC regenerator

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.