Development of More Efficient Fluid Catalytic Cracking Nozzles

Abstract

Since the turn of the century, oil refining has been a critical industry worldwide. The continuing importance and depleting resources create the need for constant research and development in all areas of the process. One particular area of importance is a process called Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC), which contributes about one half of the gasoline pool. Argonne National Laboratory is engaged in a three year, 1.7 million dollar project to evaluate FCC feed nozzles, which are an integral part of the cracking unit. Improving these nozzles could lead to an FCC unit with better efficiency and a higher product yield. My work at Argonne involved assisting in the design and construction of the experimental set-up, which is discussed at length in this paper.