Intercriteria and Regression Analyses to Investigate the Dependence of Catalytic Cracking Feed Conversion and Product Selectivity on Feed Characterization

The feed quality is the single factor that most affects the performance of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit. It can be characterized by mass spectrometry, saturates, aromatics, polars (resins) (SAP analysis), and empirical methods on the basis of measurement of physical and chemical properties of FCC feed. This research explores the capability of intercriteria and regression analyses to investigate the relations between the conversion level and product selectivity obtained in a laboratory microactivity (MAT) unit during catalytic cracking of feeds whose conversion varies between 50 and 85 wt.% with the feed parameters determined by the mass spectrometry, SAP analysis, and the empirical methods. The strongest relations are identified and discussed.