FCC process using feed atomization nozzle

An atomizing nozzle for injecting fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) feed into a cracking riser comprises a spray nozzle for breaking up the feed to form a conical, atomized spray of feed which is confined within an open ended nozzle pipe surrounding the spray nozzle and which extends downstream from the spray nozzle. Atomizing gas, usually steam, passes around the spray nozzle to promote further atomization and vaporization of the feed and the mixture of feed droplets and atomizing gas is passed through an orifice plate at the tip of the spray nozzle pipe to expand the spray across a greater axial distance. The atomizing system provides improved feed atomization and contact with the cracking catalyst with relatively low pressure drops.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to feed injection nozzles for use in fluid catalytic 
cracking (FCC) units and more particularly to injection nozzles for FCC 
units which have improved feed atomization at lower feed pressures. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) process has achieved widespread utility 
in the petroleum refining industry for producing low boiling point 
hydrocarbon products, especially gasoline from relatively higher boiling 
feeds. The FCC process has, in fact, achieved a preeminent position in the 
refining industry in the United States for catalytic this purpose and now 
accounts for almost all the non-hydrogenative, cracking capacity in the 
industry. In current cracking units, the cracking feed, generally a gas 
oil from the vacuum distillation tower, is brought into contact with a hot 
cracking catalyst at the foot of a tall, columnar riser in which the 
cracking takes place. The cracking feed travels up the riser concurrently 
with the catalyst and at the top of the riser, the cracking products are 
separated from the catalyst in the disengaging vessel, commonly referred 
to as "reactor", conventionally employing cyclone separators for this 
purpose. The cracking products are then passed to the product recovery 
section of the unit for separation into the various cracked fractions. The 
separated catalyst is passed to a regenerator in which the coke laid down 
by the cracking process is oxidatively removed, thus restoring activity to 
the catalyst and, at the same time, providing heat for the endothermic 
cracking process by the combustion of the coke. The regenerated catalyst 
is then returned to the foot of the cracking riser for contact with the 
cracking feed. 
To optimize the cracking process it is necessary to contact the feed as 
uniformly as possible with the catalyst so as to procure the catalyst/oil 
ratio which is most favorable to the desired product yield and 
distribution. In practice, this requirement has given rise to a 
considerable number of problems arising not only from the basic 
difficulties of achieving uniform contact between a finely divided solid 
(the catalyst) and a liquid (the cracking feed) but also because cracking 
units are usually required to handle extremely large equantities of both 
these components. For example, in a unit with a nominal capacity of about 
100,000 Bbl/day, about 4,000 barrels of oil pass through the unit every 
hour and at a typical catayst/oil ratio of 5:1, 3,200 tons of catalyst 
also pass by any point in the unit every hour in addition to the oil. 
These large quantities are difficult to handle with the utmost precision. 
Proposals have been made for heating the hydrocarbon stream prior to 
injection into the cracking zone in the form of a vapor but not only is 
this uneconomic because of the high degree of preheat required it is also 
undesirable because it initiates undesirable, non-selective thermal 
cracking before the feed contacts the catalyst. It also results in 
excessive coking and poor product distribution even though optimum 
performance would be realized with an all vapor feed since the most 
desirable reactions occur in the vapor phase. The conventional practice 
has therefore been to use a liquid feed dispersed with steam with the heat 
of regeneration supplying heat for vaporizing the feed and for the 
endothermic cracking process. Unit performance can be improved by a more 
uniform oil feed/catalyst distribution and by atomizing the oil into 
droplets more closely matching the particle size of the catalyst. Droplets 
of 350 microns, preferably less than 100 microns, in diameter are 
desirable. Accordingly, there is a significant incentive for good feed 
atomization and various proposals have been made to achieve this. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,140 (Griffel) discloses a FCC feed injector which 
employs a spray nozzle with a helical element which imparts a circular 
motion to the liquid feed stream to break it up into a hollow conical 
sheet which disperses droplets in the cracking zone. Atomization of the 
feed is promoted by means of the steam which is fed into the injector 
nozzle in the form of an annulus around the oil stream. 
The use of steam for improving the atomization of the cracking feed is, of 
course, well established in the industry and is described, for example, in 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,071,540 (McMahon) which employs a coaxial injection nozzle 
feeding concurrent streams of oil, steam and catalyst into the cracking 
reactor. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,065 (Sharp) describes a feed nozzle for an FCCU which 
has a helical form at the outlet of the nozzle to break the hydrocarbon 
feed up into a cone of finely dispersed droplets. Atomization of the feed 
is promoted by steam injected through a central injection pipe with an 
orifice plate facing the end of the steam conduit. 
In practice, all the conventional FCC feed injectors have disadvantages of 
one kind or another. It may be that the degree of atomization achieved is 
unsatisfactory, the pressure drop required for achieving satisfactory 
atomization is excessive, catalyst mixing is poor or the device may not be 
mechanically robust or cannot be easily maintained. Alternatively, the 
nozzle design may place limits on the amount of steam which can be 
injected concurrently with the feed and this may impose limitations on the 
ability to achieve a given product distribution because it has been 
established that increased steam/oil ratios may be desirable for improved 
selectivity to specific products, especially gasoline, particularly for 
heavier feeds or higher operating pressures. There is therefore a 
continuing need for improved FCCU feed injection systems. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
We have now devised an improved atomizing feed system for an FCCU which 
enhances catalyst/oil contact at the bottom of the cracking riser by 
spraying the cracking feed into a widely dispersed pattern of small 
droplets rather than by injecting the feed in a concentrated, high 
velocity column. The system may be readily incorporated into existing 
units because its requirements are similar to those of conventional 
multiple feed injectors. It achieves the improved feed atomization with 
reduced pressure drop and therefore requires a lower utility consumption 
for operation as well as lower installation costs by minimizing feed pump 
requirements. Furthermore, it permits the oil/steam ratio to be varied 
over wide limits and therefore permits this ratio to be adjusted in 
accordance with varying feedstocks in order to attain the most desirable 
product distribution. It is also mechanically robust and easy to maintain 
in commercial operation. 
According to the present invention, the atomizing feed system for the FCCU 
comprises a spray nozzle, preferably of the helical vane type, connected 
to the feed cracking conduit to form the feed into a conical, atomised 
spray. An open-ended nozzle pipe surrounds the spray nozzle and extends 
downstream of the nozzle to confine the spray of cracking feed until it 
passes through a circularly orificed plate which expands the spray once 
more into a finely atomized dispersion which makes good contact with the 
catalyst. 
In the present feed injection system, feed atomization is achieved in two 
stages. Within each feed injection unit, oil or a mixture of oil and steam 
is first charged to the spray nozzle which forms a conical, wide-angled 
spray of the cracking feed. The resultant spray cone is confined within 
the nozzle pipe which surrounds the spray nozzle for a distance downstream 
of the spray. In this region, the spray is contacted by an annular jet of 
atomizing gas, usually steam, that is accelerated and uniformly 
distributed around the spray. This provides a uniform mix of steam and oil 
within the nozzle pipe with liquid biased towards the walls of the nozzle 
pipe. Secondary atomization and expansion of the spray cone is achieved by 
means of the circular orifice in the orifice plate which is situated just 
inside the top edge of the nozzle pipe. The system pressure drop and 
droplet size can be altered during operation by diverting steam into the 
oil feed through the spray nozzle in which the pressure drop is higher 
than in the nozzle pipe up to the limit of available oil feed pressure. 
Diversion in this way decreases droplet size. Conversely, droplet size may 
be increased by increasing the flow of steam in the nozzle pipe around the 
spray nozzle. 
In a typical unit, a number of such injection nozzles may be ranged across 
the bottom of the cracking riser in any arrangement which provides the 
desired capacity as well as the desired distribution across the riser.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the lower portion of a cracking 
riser 10 in an FCC unit with a standpipe 11 for bringing the catalyst from 
the regenerator (not shown). A single injection unit 12 is situated at the 
bottom of the riser for injecting the oil/steam mixture into the riser 
where it contacts the catalyst. The injection system comprises a conduit 
13 for supplying the oil cracking feed either as such or as an oil/steam 
mixture, depending on the degree of atomization desired and the desired 
product distribution. The oil may comprise fresh feed such as a vacuum gas 
oil or fresh feed plus recycle from the FCC main column, according to the 
desired mode of unit operation. The oil feed enters from manifold 14 and 
may be adjusted by means of valve 15. The feed flows through the conduit 
to spray nozzle 16 which forms the feed into a conical, atomized spray 
which is confined within nozzle pipe 17 which surrounds the spray nozzle. 
An atomizing gas, usually steam, but optionally fuel gas or another gas, 
is introduced into nozzle pipe 17 by means of conduit 18 with the flow of 
steam from manifold 19 being adjusted by valve 20. The atomizing steam 
passes from conduit 18 into nozzle pipe 17, passing around flow restrictor 
collar 25 which encircles the lower portion of the body of spray nozzle 16 
in order to promote flow uniformity of the atomizing steam. The flow 
collar also serves to accelerate the steam before it encounters the cone 
of spray from the spray nozzle and this accelerates the mixture of oil and 
steam up into the upper part of nozzle pipe 26 and into the bottom of the 
riser. A high capacity ball valve 27 is provided above the spray nozzle 
area in order to permit maintenance work on the equipment outside the 
riser. 
The atomized oil and steam mixture passes up nozzle pipe 26 and encounters 
a circularly orificed plate 28 disposed just below the tip 29 of injection 
pipe 26. The orifice place promotes further atomization of the feed and 
expands the mixture of oil droplets and steam into a cone which contacts 
the catalyst entering the riser through standpipe 11 to promote good 
mixing between the oil particles and catalyst. 
If desired, feed screens may be included in the oil feed line to prevent 
the nozzles from becoming plugged if particulate matter such as coke 
enters the feed system. In addition, the feed conduit system may be 
provided with means for injecting emergency steam in order to improve 
fluidization in the riser or to remove blockages when necessary. A typical 
riser injector system is shown in FIG. 2, using five injectors disposed 
evenly around the periphery of the cracking riser. As shown in FIG. 2, the 
cracking riser 30 has five injector units 31A to 31E disposed around the 
periphery of the riser, each injector unit being as shown in FIG. 1. The 
cracking feed is fed to the individual injector units through feed 
manifold 32 which is provided with an inlet 33 for emergency steam. 
Individual feed supply conduits 34A . . . 34E extend to each of the 
individual injector units with control valves 35A . . . 35E in each 
conduit. Pressure sensors 36A . . . 36E are also provided. Atomizing steam 
is supplied through steam manifold 37 with individual atomizing steam 
supply conduits 38A . . . 38E connected to it. Steam control valves 39A . 
. . 39E and pressure sensors 40A . . . 40E are also provided, as described 
above for FIG. 1. In a unit of this type, the standpipe for the 
regenerated catalyst is preferably arranged so that the catalyst flow 
enters the riser centered between the injection units. 
The first stage atomization of the cracking feed is achieved by means of a 
spray nozzle which breaks up the cracking feed into an atomized spray of 
conical configuration. The preferred type of spray nozzle for this purpose 
is a helical vane type spray nozzle as shown in FIG. 3. The nozzle 
comprises a base portion 50 of a size suitable for mating with the feed 
conduit and to which it may be fixed by suitable means such as welding 
screws. Means permitting isolation of the complete unit from the feed 
conduit are preferred to aboild costly delays due to catalyst removal if 
and when maintenance is required. The flow constrictor collar 25 is formed 
integrally with the body of the nozzle and, as described above, serves to 
promote flow uniformity of the atomizing gas around the nozzle. The 
functional portion of the nozzle comprises a vane 51 formed in the shape 
of a helix which converges axially in the direction of flow with a helical 
slot 52 for discharging liquid from the nozzle. The vane spirals inwardly 
in the direction of flow so that the inner wall 53 of the vane has an 
inward axial taper to form a bore 54 of generally conical or bullet-shaped 
configuration of reducing cross in the direction of flow through the 
nozzle. 
Helical vane 51 has a lower spiral, helical surface 55 which extends at an 
angle to the axis of the nozzle radially outwardly from bore 54. Helical 
surface 55 extends from the base portion of the body 50 to the tip 56 of 
the nozzle and forms a spirally helical edge 57 with the inner surface 53 
of the vane. The inner helical edge 57 has a pitch which remains 
substantially uniform throughout the axial length of the nozzle as it 
spirals inwards with the taper of inner wall 54. As the vane spirals 
inwardly along the length of the nozzle an increasing area of the surface 
projects radially inward from the axially preceding wall portion until the 
end portion 56 of the nozzle is reached which forms a plug at the end of 
the nozzle so that the feed is discharged over the end portion of the 
helical vane. The vane presents a continuous deflecting surface in the 
path of the incoming feed to peel off a sheet of the feed and as this 
happens, the reduction in the cross-sectional area of the bore by the 
inwardly spiral configuration of the helical vane maintains the feed as a 
homogeneous mass and reduces turbulence or disintegration of the mass into 
separate portions. Thus, throughout the length of the nozzle, a uniform 
sheet of liquid may be peeled off by the vane and atomized to form 
droplets. 
The terminating undersurface of the vane towards the end of the spiral 
forms a complete turn so that the liquid forms a complete finite conical 
sheet on reaching the end of the nozzle to eliminate any breaks in the 
spray. The reduction of the conical shape of the wall reduces the width of 
the vane surfaces and reduces the area of contact between the vane and the 
liquid so that frictional losses between the liquid and the nozzle are 
minimized. This reduction in the outside diameter increases the 
atomization of the feed liquid and increases the efficiency of the nozzle. 
Nozzles of this type are known for producing finely atomized liquid sprays 
or fog with a minimal risk of clogging and are described, for example, in 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,804,341 (Bete) with variants of them being disclosed in 
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 23,413 (Reissue of U.S. Pat. No. 2,518,116, Bete) and 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,407 (Bete). Reference is made to these patents for a 
description of nozzles of this type. Nozzles such as those disclosed in 
these patents having a spiral, helical vane for atomizing the feed may be 
used in the present injection nozzles, including both of the coaxially 
cored nozzles as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,407 and U.S. Pat. No. 
Re. 23,413 as well as the coreless nozzles disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 
2,804,341. The coreless nozzles disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,804,341 have 
been found to give extremely good results in the present injection 
atomizing systems and are accordingly preferred for the present purpose. 
Spray nozzles generally similar to this type but without the flow 
restriction collar added for the purpose described above are commercially 
available from Bete Fog Nozzle, Inc., Greenfield, MA 01302. 
The helical spray nozzles used in the present atomizing devices are 
employed to increase liquid loading on the walls of the nozzle pipe which 
causes an extremely uniform spray of atomizied fine droplets to issue from 
the tip orifice. 
Various configurations of spray nozzle of the helical vane type are 
available producing full and hollow cone spray patterns with cone angles 
typically varying from about 50.degree. to about 120.degree. and even 
wider angle cone patterns are available e.g. 150.degree., 170.degree. or 
even 180.degree. for extra wide spray patterns. It has been found that the 
best atomization is achieved with a wide angle conical spray pattern of at 
least 90.degree. and preferably about 120.degree.. A hollow cone spray 
pattern has been found to give good results in this application but 
depending upon the individual configuration, full cone spray patterns may 
also be used. Best results were obtained with the Bete TF64W pattern 
helical vane spray nozzle, producing a wide angle (120.degree.) hollow 
cone spray pattern. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the oil droplet/steam mixture travels up the injection 
pipe a significant distance before emerging from the injection pipe into 
the riser. The atomization of the feed is completed by means of the 
orifice plate near the tip of the nozzle pipe. It has been found that 
without the orifice plate, the effects of the pipe severly limit the 
quality of the feed atomization. Although the helical vane nozzles are 
successful in achieving improved contact between the feed and the 
atomizing gas, the sprays may emerge from the nozzle pipe in a dense jet 
providing low quality atomization and mixing with the catalyst. The 
converse arrangement with the helical spray nozzle above the top of the 
nozzle pipe may be incapable of resisting catalyst erosion and could not 
be maintained without a total unit shutdown. To correct this problem, a 
spray expansion device is provided near the top of the nozzle pipe in the 
form of a circularly apertured orifice plate, preferably with a square 
edge orifice. Because the orifice is relatively large, plugging by 
particulates which emerge through the spray nozzle is not a problem and in 
addition, large orifice size permits high throughput rates appropriate for 
a cracking unit. The combination of the helical spray nozzle and the tip 
orifice provides a significant benefit to the spray pattern; removal of 
the nozzle results in a less evenly distributed spray. 
It has been found that a particular crifice plate angle is required for 
best results, usually between 15.degree. and 50.degree., with best results 
being achieved between 20.degree. and 40.degree.. The manner in which the 
orifice angle is measured is shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings which 
illustrates a cross-section of the tip of the nozzle pipe 26 with its 
circularly apertured orifice plate 28. The orifice plate angle A is 
measured by subtending vectors in the direction of flow contacting the top 
edge of the orifice plate and the inner edge of the top of the nozzle pipe 
29. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the atomizing gas is conveniently introduced into the 
nozzle pipe by means of a perpendicular or right angle connection such as 
a tee or an elbow. Thus, the atomizing gas has to make a 90.degree. turn 
before passing up the nozzle pipe to promote atomization around the spray 
nozzle. It has been found that the perpendicular momentum of the steam 
tends to make the steam travel up the sector of the nozzle pipe which is 
opposite the perpendicular gas inlet. Because this results in flow 
distribution which is less than completely uniform, the flow restrictor 
collar 25 is cast into the base of the spray nozzle in order to improve 
flow uniformity of the atomizing gas. However, any means for achieving 
uniform distribution of the atomizing gas around the nozzle may be 
employed, for example, guide vanes or a sufficiently long length of nozzle 
pipe upstream of the spray nozzle in order to permit flow of the atomizing 
gas to become even and uniform prior to passing around the spray nozzle. 
The flow restriction is, however, convenient, compact and provides the 
desired uniformity of flow for the atomizing gas with a relatively low 
pressure drop. The collar also accelerates the atomizing gas into the 
conical feed spray and this further improves feed atomization and promotes 
gas/oil mixing. The clearance between the collar and the nozzle tube will 
depend upon the amount of atomizing gas desired and again, this will 
depend upon the size of the unit and available pressure. The optimum value 
for this parameter may be found by empirical means. 
The provision of the ball valve 27 permits maintenance operations to be 
carried out readily and permits the helical nozzle to be withdrawn from 
the unit if replacement or cleaning becomes necessary. 
Since the orifice plate is subjected to erosion by the droplets of the feed 
(which may contain particles of catalyst if recycled cracking products are 
blended with the fresh feed) it may be faced with a wear-resistant 
material such as tungsten carbide or constructed of a suitable 
wear-resistant material such as tungsten carbide or a ceramic. 
Atomization will also depend on operating conditions including feed oil 
pressure and flow rate steam pressure and flow rate and the number and 
size of the nozzles. Generally, conventional operating conditions will be 
preferred to permit the nozzle to be fitted into existing equipment. Thus, 
the oil feed pressure will typically be less than 25 psig (275 kPa abs) 
over riser bottom pressure although variations up to the available oil 
pressure based on the amount of gas biased to the helical spray nozzle may 
be employed. Steam flow rate should be adjusted to obtain the desired 
degree of feed atomization and distribution into the riser; the steam rate 
per nozzle will typically be about 100-120 SCF/min although higher rates 
up to about 500 SCF/min e.g. 300-350 SCF/min may be provided for if 
appropriate. 
Both the first and second stage atomizing units are necessary to achieve 
the desired feed atomization and uniform spray pattern. This is 
illustrated by FIG. 5 of the drawings which illustrates the effect of 
varying the angle of the orifice and of the presence and absence of the 
helical spray nozzle. In FIG. 5, diagrams A, B and C illustrate the effect 
of varying the angle of the orifice plate from 11.degree. to 35.degree.. 
These diagrams were obtained by installing a helical vane spray nozzle 
(120.degree. hollow cone with a flow distribution collar as in FIG. 3) 
inside a three inch (75 mm) pipe with a two inch (50 mm) orifice in the 
orifice plate. Water was used to simulate the feed and air was used as the 
atomizing gas. Feed water pressure was 23.0 psig (260 kPa abs) at 100 
gallons per minute (378 l.m..sup.-1). The atomizing air was supplied at a 
rate of 330 SCFM (8860 n.l.m..sup.-1) at a pressure of 15 psig (205 kPa 
abs). The distribution of the liquid droplets at various radial distances 
(inches) from the central axis of the device is shown in diagrams A, B and 
C for orifice angles of 35.degree., 20.degree. and 11.degree., 
respectively. These angles were obtained by varying the insertion of the 
orifice plate in the nozzle pipe. The diagrams show that poor coverage is 
obtained with an 11.degree. orifice angle which is improved to give a 
relatively annular distribution at a 20.degree. angle with very uniform 
coverage obtained at 35.degree.. 
Diagrams D and E in FIG. 5 show the effect of the helical vane spray 
nozzle. These diagrams were obtained in the same general manner as the 
other diagrams. Diagram D was obtained with the 120.degree. hollow cone 
helical vane spray nozzle at a feed presure of 17.0 psig (220 kPa) in a 
three inch (75 mm) nozzle pipe with atomizing air at 110 SCFM (2950 
n.l.m..sup.-1) using a 35 degree orifice angle. As with diagram A, 
relatively uniform coverage is attained over a wide range of radial 
distances. However, if the helical vane nozzle is omitted, the liquid 
concentrates along the axis of the pipe to produce relatively poor 
distribution. This is shown by diagram E which was obtained using the same 
nozzle pipe with atomizing air at 110 SCFM (2950 n.l.m..sup.-1) with feed 
at 5.0 psig (136 kPa abs) at 100 gpm (378 l.m..sup.-1), the lower pressure 
being used to maintain a constant flow rate in the absence of the nozzle.