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FCC Cyclones

Conference Paper · January 2000

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REFINING

FCC cyclones – a vital

element in profitability
When it was found that standard cyclone designs did not always work reliably,
an extensive development programme was initiated to design and produce
cyclone systems suited to demanding FCC operating conditions.
Huub Dries Shell Global Solutions International
Robert McAuley Shell UK Oil Products

T
here is a tremendous drive for relia- Reference is made in the various sections
bility with the fluidised catalytic to the experience with cyclone systems in
cracking (FCC) process, the most the Stanlow residue FCC unit.
important unit in most of the world’s 620- Primary cyclones in both the regen-
plus refineries. For a typical 5000t/d erator and reactor vessels in Shell’s stan-
(35 000bpd) unit, an unscheduled outage dard two-vessel designs (Figure 1) have
lasting one week may lead to a profit loss in proven separation efficiencies in excess
excess of 1 million euros. FCC cyclones of 99.9 per cent. The overflow from
have always played a critical role in FCC these cyclones is directed to a second-
reliability. These gas/solids separators oper- stage cyclone set, where about 98 per
ate in a hostile environment with high and cent of the residual catalyst is removed.
varying temperatures, variable solid loads, Typical conditions in the FCC
fine but abrasive catalyst and hydrocarbon reactor/regenerator (R&R) are described
vapours that can lead to coke deposition. in Table 1.
Refiners need to increase process prof- For any cyclone system design, the
itability by increasing the uninterrupted following process objectives have to be
run-length from three to over four years, met:
even as cyclone-loadings increase and the — Final solids concentration in product
heavier feedstocks entering the market gas and flue gas should meet certain
become more fouling-prone. It is unaccept- maximum specifications
able if the cyclones are not robust enough to — Cyclone system should function con-
meet these run-lengths. tinuously and trouble-free for at least a
From refining experience at Shell refiner- four-year operational cycle.
ies throughout the world, it has been deter- — Cyclone maintenance during
mined that “standard” cyclone designs turnarounds should be minimal and the
cannot consistently perform reliably [Hig- Figure 1 One of Shell’s standard two- equipment life should be at least 12
gins R et al, Refiner outlines approach to FCC vessel FCC designs, with the reactor on years.
design and operations; Oil & Gas Journal, 23 the right and the regenerator vessel on Experience gained from more than 30
Nov 1998]. Hence, the company embarked the left. The cyclones in the reactor are of Shell’s FCC units (and more than 600
on a developmental programme to address close-coupled and those in the regenera- cyclones) over several decades provide
recurring reliability problems, drawing tor direct-coupled the knowledge base to design cyclone
lessons learned from operational experi- systems that meet these criteria.
ences (both good and bad) of over 600 FCC mechanical design and materials of con- Downstream from the R&R, other
cyclones. struction have also contributed to a cyclone cyclonic devices are used. Hydrocy-
Consequently, the cyclone systems are design that is efficient, reliable and coke- clones may be used downstream from
now designed to form part of the overall resistant. the reactor if required for slurry quality.
Shell FCC design, whereas previous A third stage separator down-
designs were made by cyclone manu- Typical reactor/regenerator conditions stream from the regenerator may
facturers. The features include : be used to clean the flue gas fur-
— Improved cyclone geometry that ther, either to protect a power
Reactor Regenerator
minimises erosion of walls and recovery expander or to meet par-
buildup of coke layers, while opti- Temperature, °C 525 700 ticulate emission legislation or
mising separation efficiency Pressure, bar 3 3 both.
— More compact designs, based on a Gas density, kg/m3 2.9 1.0 Challenges facing refiners that
better understanding of catalyst flow Cat/gas ratio at affect FCC cyclone systems
from the cyclone body down into the cyclones inlet, kg/kg 7–10 5–10 include economic pressures to pro-
dipleg Cat/gas ratio at duce more lighter products, pro-
— Sturdy cyclone suspension systems unit outlet, mg/kg 100–200 150–250 cess heavier feedstock, increase
and cyclone crossovers/plenums that Average particle size intake, improve unit reliability,
can withstand extreme afterburn at cyclones inlet, µm ~75 ~50 and meet ever more stringent
conditions with little risk of develop- environmental legislation on par-
ing cracks. Similar developments in Table 1 ticulate emissions. These chal-

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w w w. e p t q . c o m
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REFINING

— Can coke formation on the gas outlets

“Performance improvement in the reactor secondary reactor
cyclones be avoided, or at least be pre-
predicates an imperative for vented from impairing the cyclone per-
reducing daily catalyst losses, formance such as is caused by dipleg
plugging?
increasing unit intake well — Can the cyclone capacity be increased
without compromising separation effi-
beyond the original design ciency?
limit and improvement to — Can cracks on the cyclone system
caused by the inevitable temperature
process performance such as excursions be avoided?
product yields. The benefit Proven solutions to these questions
have been developed on the basis of oper-
of each percentage point ational experience and in-house R&D.
capacity increase . . .
Improving performance
amounts to approximately Over the past decade, many refiners
0.5 million euros per year for have revamped their reactor cyclone sys-
tems to obtain better product yields by
a 5000t/d FCC unit” reducing non-selective post-riser crack-
ing. This is most commonly achieved by
lenges and how they are met will be dis- applying close-coupled cyclone systems
cussed in following sections. where the catalyst is almost immediate-
ly separated from the hydrocarbon
Performance and reliability products after the riser, which are chan-
Refiners are under constant pressure to nelled to the main fractionator where
continuously improve their FCC unit they are quenched to prevent further
performance and reliability. cracking.
Performance improvement predi- Figure 1 shows such a system in place
cates an imperative for reducing daily in Shell’s latest residue FCC unit at Port
catalyst losses, increasing unit intake Dickson, Malaysia, which was started up
well beyond the original design limit in mid-1999. Figure 2 Shell internal reactor revamp
and improvement to process perfor- Shell close-coupled technology has
mance such as product yields. The ben- also been applied in numerous FCC should start at the earliest opportunity
efit of each percentage point capacity revamps. Figure 2 shows an example of to reduce post-riser coke make.
increase (or eqivalent amount of yield a third party unit in the USA that was In this particular case, this is achieved
improvement) amounts to approxi- revamped to include close-coupled by omitting the dipleg and injecting strip-
mately 0.5 million euros per year for a cyclones. An additional feature shown ping steam into this pre-stripping
5000t/d FCC unit. To meet these chal- in the figure is the combination of the cyclone. The presence of the stripping
lenges, the following issues need to be separation and pre-stripping functions steam has not affected the overall cyclone
considered: in the primary cyclone. It is widely separation efficiency.
— Can the cyclone perform additional understood that catalyst stripping
functions, such as “pre-stripping” Logical choice
as well? For processing heavy feedstocks
— Can the cyclone capacity be with a high coking tendency, the
increased without compromising Shell external reactor design (Fig-
separation efficiency? ure 3) proved to be the logical
— Can attrition in cyclones be choice. The system features a reac-
maintained, or even reduced, in tor system with minimal stagnant
the face of higher throughputs? areas to minimise the risk of coke
— Can new emission limits be met deposition. It has an external riser
by improving third stage separator terminating in a single rough-cut
(TSS) performance? “pre-stripping” cyclone that is
Improving reliability resonates direct-coupled to external second-
to minimising unplanned down- stage cyclones, minimising post-
time due to equipment problems, riser cracking.
reducing maintenance costs dur- Catalyst from the primary
ing scheduled turnarounds and cyclone flows into the main strip-
run length extended to more than per section before entering the
four years. The benefit of reduced regenerator. The system was first
downtime is about 1 million euros applied at Deer Park, Texas. Fol-
per week for a 5000t/d FCC unit. lowing its success, other Shell
Again, to meet these challenges, FCC units were revamped to this
the following cyclone issues need technology. The first grassroots
to be considered: application of the external reactor
— Can cyclone erosion be con- design was at the Stanlow refinery,
trolled, even at higher through- UK, in 1988. Design throughput is
puts? Figure 3 Shell external reactor design 9500t/d.

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REFINING

Capacity increase cyclones may lack sufficient

Increasing an existing FCC flowability to provide a
unit’s capacity is often a high enough apparent den-
profitable but limited sity in the dense layer. As a
option. Frequently en- consequence, the actual
countered constraints in backup height will rise.
the R&R separation sys- When the dipleg is relative-
tems include: ly short, allowing this
Excessive dipleg back-up. increase may not be possi-
Each cyclone system ble without jeopardising
operates within a pres- performance.
sure balance. Increasing Aeration is a possible means
gas flow causes cyclone to improve flowability but
pressure drop to this is not normally applied.
increase which, in turn, With increased understand-
leads to higher catalyst ing of the various flow-
levels inside the diplegs regimes inside the dipleg, it
(backup height). If this has been possible to increase
level reaches the the capacity of any given
cyclone bottom, cata- dipleg, not just by increasing
lyst may be re-entrained its diameter, but more
and losses will increase. importantly, by adjusting
High dipleg flux. Higher the flow conditions at the
catalyst load may actu- bottom and top end of the
ally overload the prima- dipleg [Wang J et al, An exper-
ry cyclone diplegs and Figure 4 Shell third-stage separator design imental study of cyclone dipleg
gas carry-under may flow in fluidized catalytic crack-
occur. These challenges can be reli- occasion, to suppress gas carry-under ing; Powder Technology, 112, 2000].
ably met with properly designed and increase dipleg capacity, the With respect to the cyclone
cyclone dipleg systems. Diplegs of pri- diameter has either been increased or bottom, a device to stabilise the vortex
mary and rough-cut cyclones (the the submergence of heavily loaded is recommended, as previously detailed
riser-end cyclones) need to be ade- diplegs has been deepened. in Figure 2. Such a feature can improve
quately sealed by submerging the bot- Poor catalyst flowability. Catalyst the pressure-balance over the cyclone,
tom end inside the stripper bed. On inside the diplegs of secondary and as such be used to increase capacity.

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REFINING

Figure 5 LES simulation of coking around a cyclone’s gas outlet Figure 6 Outlet asymmetry of a cyclone horizontal cross section

Stanlow residue FCCU design practices for cyclone geometry can also be achieved by upgrading older
In the Stanlow, UK, resid FCCU, the 2nd and diplegs TSS designs, not just by grassroots
cyclones are equipped with vortex sta- — Minimise catalyst attrition by proper installations.
bilisers, and fully satisfactory operation design and appropriate catalyst choice The Shell TSS consists of a cold-wall
at 120 per cent of nominal capacity — Improve separation downstream from vessel with a conical bottom. Flue gas
(11 000t/d) has been achieved over sev- the regenerator with the latest improve- enters via a central duct which dis-
eral years, with no significant erosion. ments to third-stage separator technology. tributes the particulates-laden gas in the
The external diplegs of the reactor 2nd The obvious route to lowering envi- space between two parallel tube sheets
cyclones are provided with gate valves, ronmental emissions is to reduce the walls. Swirl tubes – a parallel set of axial
fluidisation gas injections, DP measure- catalyst load leaving the regenerator. cyclones, with optimised dimensions –
ments and temperature indicators. The two-stage cyclones inside the regen- are mounted between the two sheets.
These are particularly useful, especial- erator need to cope with the large cata- Each swirl tube consists of a cast swirl
ly at startup, to indicate restrictions, lyst load, not only in the cyclone bodies vane assembly mounted around a gas
which if undetected would result in but also in the diplegs. outlet tube. The gas outlets pass through
high catalyst loss to the fractionator. Care is given to the proper sizing of the top of the upper sheet. Separated
Being external and accessible, the these diplegs with regards to length, catalyst and some gas leave through the
diplegs can be blasted to clear blockages, diameter and end-devices such as trickle bottom outlet of the TSS vessel.
without having to enter the reactor. Dip- valves. Furthermore, when the combus- This underflow gas is further purified
leg blockages can also occur online, and tion air is increased, for example, by in a fourth stage separator (FSS) which
procedures have been used to re-estab- adding mobile compressors, both the usually consists of a single cyclone.
lish the dipleg flow without having to catalyst loading and velocity increases. Typically, TSSs operate at around
shutdown. This has a pronounced effect on attrition 700°C with capacities of 3000 to 15 000
and hence, on the formation of micro- tons/day of flue gas. They were original-
Reducing catalyst losses fines leading to catalyst carry-over. ly designed to protect expander rotor
On the reactor side, catalyst losses may To suppress attrition, it is best to blades from excessive erosion by min-
cause pump erosion, fouling in the frac- modify the cyclone inlet geometry. imising the catalyst content in the flue
tionation section and reduced clarified Reduced losses have also been experi- gas. With the shift from expander to
oil quality. With a reliable separation enced by selecting a catalyst with higher environmental protection, the TSS
system in the reactor, catalyst losses are attrition resistance. design needed further improvements to
mostly under control. For meeting more At higher velocities, cyclone separa- enhance its separation efficiency.
stringent quality requirements for clari- tion efficiencies improve but generally Over the years, the improvement in
fied oil, hydrocyclones or filtration-sys- not enough to compensate for increased performance has reduced the emission
tems may be incorporated. catalyst entrainment, thus catalyst loss- from TSS from a typical value of
3
On the regenerator side, catalyst loss- es increase. Efficiency may be increased 120mg/Nm in the 1980s to the current
3
es may cause expander blade erosion further with longer cyclone barrels but value of less than 50mg/Nm .
and are an environmental problem. Cat- experience has resulted in limited gains.
alyst losses in the flue gas from an FCC It is preferable to improve final stage Stanlow refinery TSS
regenerator are typically in the range of cyclones by including a vortex-stabilis- Normal catalyst losses from the regener-
3 3
200–400mg/Nm , but can be limited to ing device such as schematically shown ator are approximately 200mg/Nm .
3
below 150mg/Nm . New environmental in the previously discussed Figure 2 . The During the design of the cyclones,
legislation in many countries forces vortex-stabilising device substantially appropriate attention was given to the
refiners to meet particulate emission reduces the chance of erosion and attri- dimensioning and the previously
limits below 100 and often below tion in the cyclone-bottom. described internal details. The TSS in
3
50mg/Nm . This challenge can be met New designs of TSSs (Figure 4) are Stanlow is equipped with 144 swirl
with the following step-approach: now routinely meeting emission limits tubes. Despite various changes to cata-
3
— Optimise the cyclone system by best of 50mg/Nm flue gas particulate. This lyst and operational conditions, the

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REFINING

“The combination of the TSS

and FSS enabled Stanlow to
recover most of the lost
catalyst and this was
recycled back into the unit.
Through this unconventional
operation, Stanlow refinery
was able to manage its
catalyst losses and delay an
otherwise imminent
shutdown to the scheduled
date”
Figure 7 Improved regenerator cyclone crossover and plenum system
stack emissions could be maintained
below the local emission limits. address the problem. body may reduce the severity of the
Prior to the modification of the regen- Erosion of cyclone components (bottom problem, the problem was resolved
erator cyclone suspension system (to be cone, gas outlet tube, diplegs/trickle fundamentally by changing the local
discussed in further detail), cracks in the valves); damage to erosion resistant lin- flow pattern through the use of propri-
cyclone crossovers and plenum led to ing and its metal support may occur. In etary vortex stabilisers.
large catalyst losses (more than 10t/d) particular at sharp transitions (eg Although erosion-resistant refracto-
from the regenerator. The combination cyclone gas outlet and bottom cone/dip- ry is commonly applied to safeguard
of the TSS and FSS enabled Stanlow to leg transition) some lining may erode the cyclone interior, local damage to
recover most of the lost catalyst and this away. this lining and the anchor may still
was recycled back into the unit. Mechanical damage of the cyclone sus- occur (such as in the bottom cone and
Through this unconventional opera- pension system in the form of metal gas outlet tube area) if appropriate pre-
tion, Stanlow refinery was able to man- cracks may be caused by temperature cautions are not taken. Such damage,
age its catalyst losses and delay an shocks. These cracks may lead to perfo- like abrasion and “biscuiting” of the
otherwise imminent shutdown to the ration that will deteriorate over time, surface can be minimised by reducing
scheduled date. resulting in unacceptably high catalyst the amount of steel on the surface.
On the reactor-side, the unit is losses. An extended downtime may then A change has been made from the
equipped with hydrocyclones to clean be required for repairs. traditional hex mesh to single-point
up the slurry. Most of the time, these are anchoring systems. Experience with
not required, as the required clarified oil Coke growth this change shows that the quality of
quality can be met, indicating how well Using a 3D large eddy simulation (LES) the application improves because the
the reactor-cyclone system is perform- technique, stagnant areas in a cyclone installation is simpler and much faster,
ing. However, when in operation, these can be clearly seen in Figures 5 and 6. not only by “stud-welding” but also by
have operated reliably. The predominant adherence to the lee- ”shot-creting” of the lining.
side of the gas outlet mimics quite accu- As for the refractory material itself,
Improving unit reliability rately the findings in Shell's commercial the abrasion resistance and strength are
Over the past decade, a multi-disci- units. This technique was used in con- important properties, but so are its
plinary task force has evolved to identi- junction with small-scale experiments expansion and shrinkage characteris-
fy the key causes of FCC unreliability to develop a new design for the cyclone tics. Recently, new abrasion-resistant
and gain insight with respect to type, top section (the inlet scroll & gas outlet materials have entered the market.
origin and frequency of unscheduled contour). These materials exhibit excellent abra-
downtime. Following data-gathering Findings show that formation of thick sion resistance, shrink less and are sim-
from site-visits and research activities, coke layers can be avoided without com- ple and fast to apply. When applied with
the team formulated and implemented promising separation performance. Fur- special care, these materials show supe-
design-improvements and best prac- thermore, a coke screen is incorporated rior performance when used in combi-
tices. Most cyclone-related downtime at the inlet of the dipleg to negate the nation with single-point anchoring
can be traced to three root causes, and potential effects of fallen coke pieces. systems.
in all of these areas important progress Erosion of the dipleg trickle valves is
has been made. Erosion damage related to the backflow of gas up the
Coke formation. Coke tends to adhere The demand for higher throughputs and diplegs due to the low-flow condition
in stagnant zones inside secondary higher efficiency will result in increased and the negative pressure inside the
cyclones, usually at the lee side of the velocities within the cyclones and, cyclone. This has necessitated adoption
gas outlet tube, and also in the dipleg. hence, increase their vulnerability to ero- of the hard-surfacing (stelliting) of the
During temperature fluctuations, coke sion damage. Damage is typically found valve-plate and the submerging of the
may spall-off and block a dipleg. on the “vortex turnaround” point in dipleg bottom end. In special cases, the
Depending on the severity of losses, the the proximity of the dipleg inlet. use of counterweighted flapper valves is
unit may be forced to shut down to Although lengthening the cyclone advised.

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REFINING

plenum, and, as a quick repair method, neering solutions that have been devel-
this time to non-cyclone related areas in oped over the past two decades.
“Cyclone reliability has
the reactor as well. Through revamps, the catalyst separa-
improved substantially over tion systems have been improved fur-
the past decade and has Conclusion ther.
The Stanlow residue FCC unit represents Cyclone reliability has improved sub-
contributed to unit one of Shell Global Solutions’ two stan- stantially over the past decade and has
dard designs; the one especially for pro- contributed to unit availability while
availability while capacity cessing heavy feeds. The External capacity has increased and turnaround
has increased and Reactor design features direct-coupling time decreased. Catalyst losses to stack
of cyclones, the functional combination and to clarified oil are below their
turnaround time decreased” of separation and stripping inside the design values, even though unit capaci-
large rough-cut cyclone, and the ty has increased to 120 per cent of its
absence of a reactor shell. The unit design value. "
Mechanical damage incorporates many elements of the engi-
Regenerator cyclones that use tradition-
al suspension systems are particularly
prone to cracks in the crossover ducting
from the secondary cyclone gas outlets
to the central plenum. Once these
cracks form, they will gradually grow
larger through erosion and may eventu-
ally lead to unacceptably high catalyst
losses.
In virtually all the reported cases, the
failures were weld cracks that stem from
low cycle thermal fatigue. Measured
temperatures in the Stanlow regenerator
during upset conditions showed that
severe afterburns occurred predomi-
nantly in the cyclones. Temperature
excursions of 100°C were recorded. To
compound matters, the temperature
excursions were not uniformly distribut-
ed. With these data in hand, it became
clear what would happen when the tem-
perature of a pair of crossovers were sud-
denly increased and the rest remain
unchanged. The thermal expansion will
create high stresses and may result in
cracks at both sides of the crossover.
With this understanding, a new propri-
etary design was developed which can
accommodate the expected non-uni-
form thermal expansion (Figure 7).
The new cyclone suspension system
provides more flexibility by allowing
any thermal expansion to be absorbed.
Potentially acute temperature changes
are also moderated by the use of insulat-
ing material.
The improved crossover and plenum
design has been implemented in a num-
ber of locations, including Stanlow, and
has already proven itself. Shortly after
the implementation of the above sys-
tem, Stanlow experienced a unit upset
which triggered an extremely severe
temperature excursion in the regenera-
tor runaways. Based on past experiences,
such an incident would have led to
cracks in the crossovers and plenum if
the traditional suspension system was
still in use. However, the improved sus-
pension system was able to withstand
the severe conditions without damage.
The single point anchoring with the
new refractory material has been
applied inside the new regenerator

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