Comparison of hydrocracking kinetic models based on SARA fractions obtained in slurry-phase reactor

Abstract

Four kinetic models based on the SARA fractions were compared for the hydrocracking of heavy crude oil with mineral catalyst in slurry-phase. The reaction rate coefficients and activation energies were calculated with experimental information obtained at the following conditions: temperature range of 360-400 ?C, pressure of 3.9 MPa and reaction times of 2-5 h. A sensitivity analysis was performed to ensure that the optimized kinetic parameters are the optimal. It was found that the reaction pathways from resins to saturate, aromatics to gases, and asphaltenes to gases are not carried out at the studied operating conditions. The number of negative and positive residuals, the maximum absolute error, the slope and the intercept of parity plots, and the Akaike and Bayesian criteria were used to select the model that fits better the experimental data.