Uop Lcc

Brian D Nabozny

Leon Yuan

Kyle P Austin

James L Bixby

William D Schlueter

Kate Tuson

A catalytic reforming process including a reaction zone and a separate catalyst regeneration zone where catalyst is collected in a catalyst collector in the reaction zone and then directed to the catalyst regeneration zone wherein the catalyst collector is purged with a net gas stream.

Catalytic reformer catalyst collector including purge gas stream

Systems and processes for regenerating catalyst are provided herein that include a catalyst regeneration tower having a cooling zone that receives a catalyst cooling stream generated by a cooling gas loop. The systems and processes include a first thermocompressor that utilizes a first motive vapor and a second thermocompressor that utilizes a second motive vapor in order to provide the catalyst cooling stream to the regeneration tower. The second thermocompressor operates in parallel with the first thermocompressor. The first thermocompressor can utilize combustion air as the motive vapor. The second thermocompressor can utilize nitrogen as the motive vapor.

Turndown thermocompressor design for continuous catalyst recovery

This invention relates to regeneration of coked catalyst by combustion so that the catalyst can be reused in a hydrocarbon conversion reaction. The completion of coke burn is generally measured with a combination of temperature or change in oxygen concentration. Dropping outlet temperatures require time to wait for increases in inlet temperature to correspondingly move down the regenerator. Faster response times might be expected from increasing oxygen concentration, but a small increase in concentration can lead to a significant increase in peak burn temperature which negatively impacts catalyst life. Controlled peak burning is difficult over the entire bed by merely controlling inlet and outlet oxygen concentrations. The invention accordingly combines a measured lag time for temperature travel with an inlet temperature ramping step to ensure complete coke combustion with high oxygen efficiency, thus providing a rapid regeneration that permits more time for operation at desired reaction conditions.

Growing community of inventors

Sleepy Hollow, IL, United States of America

Brian D Nabozny