Modeling the Kinetics of Hydrocracking of Heavy Oil with Mineral Catalyst. In: Mathematical Modeling of Complex Reaction Systems in the Oil and Gas Industry

Abstract

Discrete and continuous lumping models have been largely used to represent the reaction kinetics. Recently, the use of more complex and fundamental microkinetic models to simulate hydrocracking has increased the interest of the research community. A significant number of researchers determine the reaction order from the experimental findings or adopt values documented in the literature. The most inferred reaction order in the kinetic model for the hydrocracking of heavy oil using dispersed catalyst is the first order. The kinetic model based on SARA fractions (6-lump) was employed as well as the regular solution model to calculate the molar volumes and solubility parameters of SARA fractions, and then estimate the content of sediments during the hydrocracking of heavy oil using molybdenite as catalyst. One advantage of utilizing this kind of catalysts is that the mineral catalysts are cheaper compared with commercial catalyst used in other technologies.