Kinetic Overview of Catalytic Reforming Units (Fixed and Continuous Reforming)

Abstract

Naphtha catalytic reforming is one of the main processes of gasoline production with high octane number. Inactive catalysts and changing the products distribution is an important issue in this process. In this paper we discussed the kinetic overview of catalytic reforming units (fixed and continuous reforming). The catalyst activity model introduced in this research study has been used as a function of temperature and process time to detect the catalyst deactivation. The kinetic model and catalyst activity were estimated by using the genetic algorithm as well as overlapping the proposed model results with the experimental data. The results of the modeling showed that the amount of the aromatics during the reactor reduced the trend due to the decrease in the amount of paraffin and naphthen. After the process modeling, the effect of different factors such as time, reactor temperature changes, reactors operating pressure, and the ratio of hydrogen to hydrocarbon on the activity of catalysts and distribution of the products were investigated. The results revealed that, the aromatics rate decreased and coke formed rate on the catalyst surface increased by catalyst activity passing time. Also, increasing the input temperature and reducing the ratio of hydrogen to hydrocarbon enhanced the aromatics produced rate.