are fed to the thermal cracker vacuum distillation unit where vacuum gas oil is
removed as feed to an FCCU or to a lube oil refining facility.
Hydrocracking Yields and Product Properties
The data in Table 7 illustrate the yield and operating conditions for a fixed-bed
residue hydrocracker. Both the start-of-run (SOR) and end-of-run (EOR) data are
shown. These were recorded during a test run on a Middle East vacuum residue
feed. This hydrocracker contained a guard reactor which essentially converted
Table 7 Conditions and yield data on hydrocracking Middle East residue
SOR
EOR
Reactor conditions
Pressure, psia
3,000
3,000
Inlet temperature,
F
700
750
Outlet temperature,
F
750
800
Space velocity, V/V/h
0.5
0.4
Feed
Vacuum residue
+1,025
F TBP cut point
BPSD
13,000
13,000
lbs/h
190,266
190,266
Makeup hydrogen
Scf/Bbl
1,290
1,875
lbs/h
4,010
5,606
Products
Ammonia
lbs/h
209
203
Mol weight
17
H 2 S
lbs/h
6,964
6,680
Mol weight
34
Net separator gas
lbs/h
Nil
2,405
Mol weight
4.3
Cold flash gas
lbs/h
3,772
5,569
Mol weight
9.6
Cold flash liquid
lbs/h
22,586
39,886
BPSD
1,852
3,321
Hot flash liquid
lbs/h
160,744
141,129
BPSD
11,672
10,280
Upgrading the Bottom of the Barrel
555