PETROLEUM REFINING

TECHNOLOGY

HYDROCRACKING
Group 11
Kumi George
Kpodo Kisseih Victor
Kaku Joel Akrowey
Kudamo Joel
Kpeli Joseph
Kenney Hastens
 CONTENT
Hydrocracking
Hydrocracking Reactions
Process Description
Types of Hydrocracking Processes
Feed Preparation
Hydrocracking Catalyst
Process Variables
Advantages of Hydrocracking
Disadvantages of Hydrocracking
HYDROCRACKING
• The process of converting heavy fuel oil components into naphtha,
kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil or high-quality lubricating oils, through
catalytic reactions under high temperatures and high- pressure
hydrogen atmosphere
• Hydrocracking was commercially developed by I.G. Farben industries
in 1927 for converting lignite into gasoline
• Hydrocracking operation is of two types:
• Those that operate on distilled feed (hydrocracking)
• Those which operate process residual materials (hydroprocessing)
Reasons for the use of hydrocracking
• High demand for jet fuel and gasoline

• Low cost of hydrogen which is a by product

• It is Environmentally friendly
Hydrocracking Reactions

• The mechanism of hydrocracking is that of catalytic cracking with hydrogenation

superimposed.
• Catalytic cracking is the scission of a carbon-carbon single bond, and
hydrogenation is the addition of hydrogen to a carbon-carbon double bond
• Cracking provides olefins for hydrogenation whilst hydrogen provides heat for
cracking

• The cracking reaction is endothermic and the hydrogenation reaction is

exothermic
• Reaction temperatures are between 290 to 400 ⁰C and reaction pressures are
between 1200 to 2000 psig.
Process description
 Feedstock and their product
feed product

Kerosene naphtha

Straight run diesel Naphtha and jet oil

Atmospheric gasoline Naphtha, jet fuel and diesel

Vacuum gas oil Naphtha, jet fuel, diesel, lube oil

Types of hydrocracking processes
The flow schemes for the reaction system are categorized into:

1) Single-stage reaction system

it is used to produce kerosene and diesel oil economically
The single stage is categorised into
• complete conversion system by recirculating the unconverted oil
• And the one-through system that partially convert the oil without
recirculation
2) two-stage reaction system
This is used for cracking the feedstock oil completely and increasing the
yield of middle distillate oils
 Feed preparation
• Feedstock is hydrotreated to saturate the olefins and remove sulphur,
nitrogen and oxygen compounds.
• These compounds or elements poison the hydrocracking catalyst
• Nitrogen and sulphur compounds are removed by conversion to
ammonia and hydrogen sulphide
• Metallic compounds are also removed
• The water content is reduced to 25 ppm to prevent collapsing of the
crystalline structure of the catalyst
Hydrocracking catalyst
• The composition of the catalyst depends on the process, feed material
and products desired
• Most catalyst usually consist of a crystalline mixture of silica-alumina
with a small uniformly distributed amount of rare earths contained in
the crystalline lattice
• The silica-alumina portion provides cracking activity while the rare-
earth metals promote hydrogenation
• Commonly used metals include; platinum, palladium, tungsten and
nickel
Process Variables
The degree of conversion of the feed to lighter products in
hydrocracking reactions is dependent on:
Reactor temperature
Reactor pressure
Space velocity
Nitrogen content
Hydrogen sulfide
Heavy Polynuclear Aromatics (HPNA)
 Advantages of hydrocracking
• Better balance of gasoline and distillate production

• Greater gasoline yield

• Improved gasoline pool octane quality and sensitivity

• Production of relatively high amounts of isobutene in the butane

fraction
• Supplementing of fluid catalytic cracking to upgrade heavy cracking
stocks, aromatics, cycle oils and coker oils to gasoline jet fuels and
light fuels.
Disadvantages of Hydrocracking
• Loss of control of temperature leads to explosion of the reaction
section
• High initial cost
• Requires the use of complex technology
• Requires high hydrogen pressure