:Purpose

• Remove hetero atoms and saturate carbon-carbon bonds

• Sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and metals removed
• Olefinic and aromatic bonds saturated
• Reduce average molecular weight & produce higher yields of fuel products
• Minimal cracking
• Minimal conversion – 10% to 20% typical
• Products suitable for further processing or final blending
Reforming, catalytic cracking, hydrocracking :
• Hydrocracking
• Severe form of hydroprocessing
• Break carbon-carbon bonds
• Drastic reduction of molecular weight
• 50%+ conversion
• Products more appropriate for diesel than gasoline
Hydroprocessing Trends:
• Hydrogen is ubiquitous in refinery and expected to increase:
• Produces higher yields and upgrade the quality of fuels
• The typical refinery runs at a hydrogen deficit:
As hydroprocessing becomes more prevalent, this deficit will increase
• As hydroprocessing progresses in severity, the hydrogen demands increase dramatically
Driven by several factors:
• Heavier and higher sulfur crudes
• Reduction in demand for heavy fuel oil
• Increased use of hydrodesulfurization for low sulfur fuels
• More complete protection of FCCU catalysts
• Demand for high quality coke
• Increased production of diesel
Sources of Hydrogen:
Catalytic Reforming from steam reforming of NG and Naptha reforming methods and also from the catalytic
reformer one at Al2O3.
Cryogenic Pressure swing adsorption Membrane separation.
Steam-Methane Reforming:
• Most common method of manufacturing hydrogen
• 90 to 95 vol% typical purity
Synthesis Gas:
• Gasification of heavy feed
• Hydrogen recovery – pressure swing adsorption or membrane separation
• More expensive than steam reforming but can use low quality by product
Steam-Methane:
• Shift conversion. Exothermic fixed-bed catalytic reaction 650°C.
Steam-Methane:
• Shift conversion. Exothermic fixed-bed catalytic reaction 650°C.

• Gas Purification:Absorption of CO2 in amine or hot K2CO3 solution.

• Methanation. Trace amounts of carbon monoxide & carbondioxide
removed. Exothermic fixed-bed catalytic reactions,700-800 °C.
• Hydrogen (H2) is identified to be an ideal energy carrier with high efficiency, since it
possesses LHV of 121 MJ/kg compared to any other known fuels and burns cleanly,
without generating any environmental pollutants. H2 production is an attractive
subject of current interest for fuel cell applications which are considered to have
the potential to provide a clean energy source for automobile as an alternative to
gasoline or diesel engines. H2 is also one of most important chemicals and is widely
used for ammonia production, oil refineries, and methanol production etc. In view
of growing environmental concerns, such as global warming and the depletion of
fossil fuel, major efforts are being dedicated to develop the utilization of renewable
energy sources. Bio oil produced from biomass has been proposed as an
alternative to produce hydrogen; because this renewable rich energy resource does
not contribute to a net increase in atmospheric CO2. Bio-oil is a dark brown organic
liquid. Bio-oil exhibits a complex composition with more than 200 different
compounds including acids, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones as well as lignin derived
oligomers, which are emulsified with water hence difficult to reform. In general,
the steam reforming of bio-oil is simplified in terms of the oxygenated organic
compounds (CnHmOk) by the following reactions:
• Steam reforming of the main component in bio-oil such as acetic acid
(12-14 by wt %) can offer the information for active catalyst
preparation and the knowledge about the potential catalytic
behaviour of bio-oil in steam reforming.
Reaction involved in steam reforming of acetic acid:
Reforming of acetic acid for H2 production can be summarized as
followes: First, Steam reforming of acetic acid reaction has discussed as
stated below.

Followed by water gas shift reaction

The overall steam reforming reaction of acetic acid is

The maximum stoichiometric yield of H2 for acetic acid reforming is 2
mole to mole of carbon. However some undesired reactions take place
inside the reactor. Hence there is large possibilities of decomposition of
acetic acid to lower molecular weight oxygenates, lighter hydrocarbons
(CH4, C2H4) and coke.

Some amount of coke can also be formed via Boudouard reaction.