CFD modeling and simulation of catalytic pyrolysis of heavy oils in a tapered fluidized bed reactor

A fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) have been widely used for catlytic cracking, combustion, gasification, pyrolysis and other applications. However, to improve the performance of FBRs, a better understanding of its flow behaviour is required, especially when multiphases are present. In this research work, we have studied the hydrodynamics and performance of FBR for the catalytic pyrolysis of heavy oil into lighter fractions using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach. The eight-lump kinetic model was used to model the pyrolysis of heavy oil. The effect of riser geometry on the pyrolysis was investigated using a 2D transient Eulerian and the granular flow models. The fluid flow behaviour in tapered-in and tapered-out reactors (risers) for two different tapering angles (1° and 2°), conventional cylindrical reactor and pyrolysis at two different temperatures (600 ° C and 700 ° C) are studied, and the results are compared. The yield of pyrolysis products from the cylindrical riser is validated using previous mathematical models and experimental results from the literature. The results of the present CFD model for the cylindrical riser are in concert with the experimental results reported in the literature. The yields of light olefins, ethene, propene and butene are 48 wt%, 18 wt%, 34 wt%, respectively, at 700° as higher temperature favours a better yield of pyrolysis products. The same CFD model is extended to study the tapered riser geometries, and the simulation results support that the tapered-in geometry favours the pyrolysis, resulting in the higher conversion of gas oil compared to cylindrical riser due to increased residence time of solids (catalysts) and hence better contact with the fluid phase for the reactions.