Steady-state modeling of an industrial hydrocracking reactor by discrete lumping approach

Abstract

In this study, a steady-state model of an industrial hydrocracking reactor was developed by using discrete lumping approach. Discrete lumping considers the reaction mixture to be composed of discrete pseudo-compounds (lumps) based on their true boiling points. The model parameters were estimated by using real data from an industrial hydrocracking unit. The effects of catalyst deactivation on model parameters were investigated and temperature sensitivity was introduced to the model. Since the model consists of a set of ordinary differential equations and algebraic equations which have to be solved simultaneously, a code was written by using MATLAB. It was shown that the model predictions for temperature profile, product distribution and hydrogen consumption were in good agreement with real plant data.