Fundamentals of Delayed Coking Joint Industry Project (2004)

Delayed coking evolved steadily over the early to mid 1900s to enable refiners to convert high boiling, residual petroleum fractions to light products such as gasoline. Pound for pound, coking is the most energy intensive of any operation in a modern refinery. Large amounts of energy are required to heat the thick, poor-quality petroleum residuum to the 900 to 950 degrees F required to crack the heavy hydrocarbon molecules into lighter, more valuable products. One common misconception of delayed coking is that the product coke is a disadvantage. Although coke is a low valued (near zero economic value) byproduct, compared to transportation fuels, there is a significant worldwide trade and demand for coke as it is an economical fuel. Coke production has increased steadily over the last ten years, with further increases forecast for the foreseeable future. Current domestic production is near 111,000 tons per day. A major driving force behind this increase is the steady decline in crude quality available to refiners. Crude slates are expected to grow heavier with higher sulfur contents while environmental restrictions are expected to significantly reduce the demand for high-sulfur residual fuel oil. Light sweet crudes will continue to be available and in even greater demand than they are today. Refiners will be faced with the choice of purchasing light sweet crudes at a premium price, or adding bottom of the barrel upgrading capability, through additional new investments, to reduce the production of high-sulfur residual fuel oil and increase the production of low-sulfur distillate fuels. A second disadvantage is that liquid products from cokers frequently are unstable, i.e., they rapidly form gum and sediments. Because of intermediate investment and operating costs, delayed coking has increased in popularity among refiners worldwide. Based on the 2000 Worldwide Refining Survey published in the Oil and Gas, the delayed coking capacity for 101 refineries around the world is 2,937,439 barrels/calendar day. These cokers produce 154,607 tons of coke per day and delayed coking accounts for 88% of the world capacity. The delayed coking charge capacity in the United States is 1,787,860 b/cd. Despite its wide commercial use, only relatively few contractors and refiners are truly knowledgeable in delayed-coking design, so that this process carries with it a ''black art'' connotation. Until recently, the expected yield from cokers was determined by a simple laboratory test on the feedstock. As a result of Tulsa University's prior related research, a process model was developed that with additional work could be used to optimize existing delayed cokers over a wide range of potential feedstocks and operating conditions. The objectives of this research program are to: utilize the current micro, batch and pilot unit facilities at The University of Tulsa to enhance the understanding of the coking process; conduct additional micro and pilot unit tests with new and in-house resids and recycles to make current optimization models more robust; conduct focused kinetic experiments to enhance the furnace tube model and to enhance liquid production while minimizing sulfur in the products; conduct detailed foaming studies to optimize the process and minimize process upsets; quantify the parameters that affect coke morphology; and to utilize the knowledge gained from the experimental and modeling studies to enhance the computer programs developed in the previous JIP for optimization of the coking process. These refined computer models will then be tested against refinery data provided by the member companies. Novel concepts will also be explored for hydrogen sulfide removal of furnace gases as well as gas injection studies to reduce over-cracking.