Refining Processes Handbook - 2020 - 130

2020 REFINING PROCESSES HANDBOOK
PROCESS CATEGORIES

COMPANY INDEX

CATALYTIC CRACKING

Indmax℠ FCC for maximum olefins
Application: The Indmax fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) process converts heavy oils-
such as heavy vacuum gasoil (HVGO) and a variety of heavy residue oils (virgin and
treated atmospheric tower bottoms and vacuum tower bottoms, heavy coker fuel
oils, lube extracts, solvent de-asphalting oils, etc.)-into light olefins and high-octane
gasoline. Similar to a crude distillation unit (CDU) in a refinery, the Indmax FCC process
is like a mother unit to a petrochemicals complex, providing a strong linkage between
refinery and petrochemical plants integration. Each molecule produced from Indmax
FCC has the potential for use as raw material for petrochemical building blocks.
Products: Light olefins such as propylene, ethylene and butylenes, high-octane
gasoline, alkylation feed and BTX (benzene, toluene and mixed xylenes)-rich
naphtha. The Indmax FCC process is highly flexible, as it involves only riser cracking.
The operation can be easily adjusted depending on the demand and pricing of
different products, e.g., from propylene mode to gasoline mode, or vice-versa.
Catalyst: The Indmax catalyst is a unique, proprietary and multi-functional catalyst
formulation that promotes selective catalytic cracking to provide very high conversion
and yield of light olefins. It is highly metals-tolerant and produces lower coke and
dry gas yield that are particularly important when processing heavy residue to
make light olefins. The catalyst formulation can be customized to meet changes
in feedstock properties or market demand of the various products. Indmax catalyst
also overcomes the drawbacks of ZSM-5, such as over-cracking of gasoline and
dilution effects that might lead to conversion loss.
Description: The Indmax FCC process combines the proprietary Indmax catalyst
and process concepts developed by Indian Oil Corp. Ltd.'s R&D Centre (IOCL R&D)
in India, with the state-of-the-art FCC technology/design features and know-how of
Lummus Technology, the exclusive licensor of Indmax FCC technology worldwide.
The synergistic features of Indmax catalyst and hardware immensely reduce
delta coke that reduces regenerator temperature and increases catalyst-to-oil ratio
and conversion. These features enhance the ability to process heavier feeds without
a carbon monoxide (CO) boiler, catalyst cooler and feed furnace.
The Indmax FCCU is designed for and operated at Indmax process conditions:
a riser reactor temperature between 560°C and 600°C, a catalyst-to-oil ratio from
12-20, and lower hydrocarbon partial pressure compared to conventional FCC
operations. The Indmax FCC process incorporates an advanced reaction system,

high-efficiency catalyst stripper and a mechanically robust, single-stage full burn
regenerator. Oil is injected into the base of the riser via proprietary Micro-Jet™
feed injection nozzles (1). Catalyst and oil vapor flow upwards through a shortcontact time, all-vertical riser (2) where raw oil feedstock is cracked under optimum
conditions. Reaction products exiting the riser are separated from the spent catalyst
in a patented, direct-coupled cyclone system (3). Product vapors are routed directly
to fractionation, thereby eliminating nonselective, post-riser cracking and maintaining
the optimum product yield slate. Spent catalyst containing only minute quantities
of hydrocarbon is discharged from the diplegs of the direct-coupled cyclones into
the cyclone containment vessel (4). The catalyst flows down into the stripper
containing proprietary ModGrid® internals (5). The hydrocarbons entrained
with spent catalyst are removed in the ModGrid stripper using stripping steam.
The ModGrid stripper efficiently removes hydrocarbons at a lower steam rate than
other FCC strippers. The net stripper vapors are routed to the fractionator via
specially designed vents in the direct-coupled cyclones. Catalyst from the stripper
flows down the spent catalyst standpipe and through the slide valve (6). The spent

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Refining Processes Handbook - 2020

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