METHOD FOR DEHYDROGENATING A FEED STREAM TO PRODUCE ONE OR MORE OLEFINIC PRODUCTS

Abstract

Claim 1: A method for dehydrogenating a feed stream to produce one or more olefin products, wherein the method comprises: contacting the feed stream with a catalyst in a reactor portion of a reactor system, wherein: the reactor system comprises a fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation reactor system having a reactor portion and a catalyst processing portion; the catalyst comprises platinum, gallium, or both; and contact of the feed stream with the catalyst causes a reaction forming an effluent stream comprising the one or more olefin products; separating at least a portion of the effluent stream from the catalyst; and passing the catalyst to the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system.processing the catalyst in the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system, wherein processing the catalyst comprises: passing the catalyst to a combustion chamber of the catalyst processing portion; burning a supplementary fuel stream in the combustion chamber to heat the catalyst, wherein the supplementary fuel stream comprises at least 1 mol% of one or more hydrocarbons, and a weight ratio of the catalyst to one or more hydrocarbons in the combustion chamber is at least 300:1; treating the heated catalyst with an oxygen-containing gas to produce a reactivated catalyst; and passing the reactivated catalyst from the catalyst processing portion to the reactor portion of the reactor system.

Description

82708-AR-NP CHEMICAL PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS THAT INCLUDE THE COMBUSTION OF SUPPLEMENTARY FUELS BACKGROUND FIELD

[0001] The present description refers generally to chemical processing systems and their operation and, more specifically, to processes in which catalyst processing includes combustion of a supplementary fuel stream. Technical background

[0002] Light olefins can be used as raw materials to produce many types of goods and materials. For example, ethylene can be used to produce polyethylene, ethylene chloride, or ethylene oxides. Such products can be used in product packaging, construction, textiles, etc. Therefore, there is an industrial demand for light olefins such as ethylene, propylene, and butene.

[0003] Light olefins can be produced by different reaction processes depending on the given chemical feed stream, such as a product stream from a crude oil refining operation. Many light olefins can be produced through various catalytic processes, such as catalytic dehydrogenation, in which the feed stream is contacted with a fluidized catalyst that facilitates the conversion of the feed stream into light olefins. SYNTHESIS

[0004] There is a continuing need for improved processes for reactor systems for processing chemical streams to produce light olefins or other chemicals. In particular, the processes may include AlejandraAouimé^odiosimeÓo^ados to heat the catalyst through the combustion of complementary materials. Many reactor systems for the Date: 2019.07.05 13:36:44 -03:00 Reason: Digitally Signed by INPI Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina1 82708-AR-NP Processing of chemical streams to produce light olefins and other chemicals utilizes relatively hot catalysts, such as catalysts heated to temperatures above 350 °C. The catalyst may be circulated through fluidized reactor systems, such as through a reactor portion (where chemicals are manufactured) and through a catalyst processing portion (in which the catalyst is processed, such as, but not limited to, coke removal, catalyst heating, catalyst reactivation, other catalyst processing operations, or combinations thereof).

[0005] In endothermic fluidized reactor systems, the reactor system includes a heat source to drive the process. For example, in fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) reactions, the coke generated by the reaction and deposited on the catalyst can be burned in a combustion chamber of the catalyst processing portion to provide a large portion of the heat to drive the reaction process. However, some reaction processes for producing light olefins are endothermic and require heat input to the system to propagate the catalytic reactions and meet other heat demands. Coke deposits on the catalyst can be burned during catalyst processing, but the heat provided by the combustion of the coke deposits may not be sufficient to propagate the endothermic reactions.Additional fuels can be introduced during catalyst regeneration to increase heat input to the reaction system.

[0006] For example, as another non-limiting embodiment, in fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation (FCDh) reactor systems, a supplementary fuel may be added to the combustion chamber to provide the heat for the endothermic reaction along with the combustion of a relatively small amount of coke from the reaction. The supplementary fuels may include significant proportions of methane and / or other hydrocarbons due to the affordable cost of methane and its energy efficiency at relatively high temperatures, such as those of the catalyst during its 82708-AR-NP operation (e.g., temperatures above 650 °C). However, combustion of supplementary fuels consisting mainly of methane and other hydrocarbons (e.g., at a molar percentage of 50% or more of methane and other hydrocarbons) during catalyst processing may lead to reduced catalyst activity, such as a catalyst containing platinum, gallium, or both, for example.

[0007] Reduced catalyst activity can decrease the conversion achievable by the catalyst. In some fluidized bed reactor systems using supplemental fuels consisting primarily of methane and other hydrocarbons, reactor system productivity can be maintained by increasing the amount of catalyst in the reactor system or by increasing the amount of active metal, such as platinum, gallium, or both, in the catalyst. However, increasing the amount of active metal, such as platinum, gallium, or both, in the reactor system can increase the operating costs of the reactor system.

[0008] Therefore, there is a continuing need for reactor systems and processes that increase the conversion of a chemical feed by reducing catalyst deactivation. In particular, there is a continuing need for reactor systems and methods that include the combustion of supplementary fuels and reduce the extent of catalyst deactivation during the combustion process prior to catalyst reactivation, thereby increasing catalyst activity. This disclosure, according to one or more embodiments, is directed to reactor processes and systems that include the combustion of a supplementary fuel stream containing one or more hydrocarbons (e.g., methane, natural gas, etc.) in a combustion chamber to heat the catalyst.The weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber can be at least 300:1 during the combustion of the supplemental fuel stream. After combustion, the catalyst can be treated with oxygen, which involves exposing it to an oxygen-containing gas for a sufficient period to reactivate it. 82708-AR-NP

[0009] It was surprisingly and unexpectedly discovered that combustion chamber operation with a relatively high weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbons in the supplemental fuel stream (e.g., 300:1 or more) can result in increased catalyst dehydrogenation activity and increased reactor system conversion compared to combustion chamber operation with a weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbons in the supplemental fuel of less than 300:1 under the same operating conditions (including the same post-combustion oxygen treatment).Furthermore, operating the combustion chamber with a relatively high weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbons in the supplemental fuel stream (e.g., > 300:1) can result in a catalyst with a longer lifespan and can allow target conversion to be achieved with less bulk inventory of catalyst in the reactor system compared to the bulk inventory of catalyst required to achieve the same target conversion when the weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbons in the combustion chamber is relatively low (e.g., < 300:1).In some embodiments, operating the combustion chamber with a relatively high weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbons (e.g., >300:1) may allow the reactor system to operate with a less active metal, such as platinum, gallium, or both, in the catalyst or a more aged catalyst compared to reactor systems operated at lower weight ratios of catalyst to hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber.

[0010] In accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure, a method for dehydrogenating a feed stream to produce one or more olefin products may include contacting the feed stream with a catalyst in a reactor portion of a reactor system. The reactor system may include a fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation reactor system having a reactor portion and a catalyst processing portion. The catalyst may include platinum, 82708-AR-NP gallium or both. Contact of the feed stream with the catalyst may cause a reaction that forms an effluent stream comprising one or more olefin products. The method may further include separating at least a portion of the effluent stream from the catalyst, passing the catalyst to the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system, and processing the catalyst in the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system. Catalyst processing may include passing the catalyst to a combustion chamber of the catalyst processing portion, burning a supplemental fuel stream in the combustion chamber to heat the catalyst, and treating the heated catalyst with an oxygen-containing gas (oxygen treatment) to produce a reactivated catalyst.The supplemental fuel stream may include at least 1 mol% of one or more hydrocarbons, and the weight ratio of the catalyst to the one or more hydrocarbons in the combustion chamber may be at least 300:1. The method may further include passing the reactivated catalyst from the catalyst processing portion to the reactor portion of the reactor system.

[0011] It should be understood that both the brief summary above and the detailed description below present embodiments of the technology and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the claimed technology. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the technology and are incorporated herein and form a part thereof. The drawings illustrate various embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles and operation of the technology. Furthermore, the drawings and descriptions are intended to be merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims in any way.

[0012] The additional features and advantages of the technology described herein will be set forth in the following detailed description, and will in part be readily apparent to persons of mid-level skill from that description or will be recognized through the practice of the technology described herein, which include the following detailed description, the 82708-AR-NP claims and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The following detailed description of the specific embodiments of this disclosure can be better understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where similar structure is indicated by these reference numbers and in which:

[0014] Figure 1 schematically represents a reactor system, according to one or more embodiments described herein;

[0015] Figure 2 schematically represents a reactor system flow diagram, according to one or more embodiments described herein;

[0016] Figure 3 schematically represents another reactor system flow diagram, according to one or more embodiments described herein;

[0017] Figure 4 schematically represents yet another reactor system flow diagram, according to one or more embodiments described herein; and

[0018] Figure 5 schematically represents a graph of propane conversion (y-axis) as a function of the catalyst weight ratio to methane in the combustion chamber (x-axis) for a fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation reactor system in which the supplementary fuel stream includes methane and / or hydrogen, according to one or more embodiments described herein.

[0019] It should be understood that the drawings are schematic in nature and do not include some components of a reactor system normally employed in the art, such as, but not limited to, temperature transmitters, pressure transmitters, flow meters, pumps, valves, and the like. It would be understood that these components are within the spirit and scope of the embodiments described herein. However, operational components, such as those described in this disclosure, may 82708-AR-NP to be added to the embodiments described in this disclosure.

[0020] Various embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, will be referred to in greater detail below. Where possible, these reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or similar parts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The detailed description below outlines various embodiments of this disclosure. This disclosure relates to methods for processing chemical streams in reactor systems that utilize a supplementary fuel stream to heat the catalyst. In particular, this disclosure relates to methods for dehydrogenating a feed stream to produce one or more olefin products, wherein a supplementary fuel stream comprising one or more hydrocarbons is burned at a relatively high catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio (e.g., >300:1) in a catalyst processing portion of the reactor system to at least partially heat the catalyst.The method for dehydrogenating a feed stream to produce one or more olefin products may include contacting a feed stream with a catalyst in a reactor portion of a reactor system. The reactor system may include a fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation reactor system having a reactor portion and a catalyst processing portion. The catalyst may include platinum, gallium, or both. Contact of the feed stream with the catalyst may cause a reaction that forms an effluent stream comprising the one or more olefin products. The method may further include separating at least a portion of the effluent stream from the catalyst, passing the catalyst to the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system, and processing the catalyst in the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system. The catalyst processing may include passing the 82708-AR-NP catalyst to a combustion chamber of the catalyst processing portion, burning a supplemental fuel stream in the combustion chamber to heat the catalyst, and treating the heated catalyst with an oxygen-containing gas to produce a reactivated catalyst. The supplemental fuel stream may include at least 1 mol% of one or more hydrocarbons, and the weight ratio of the catalyst to the one or more hydrocarbons in the combustion chamber may be at least 300:1. The method may further include passing the reactivated catalyst from the catalyst processing portion to the reactor portion of the reactor system.

[0022] It was found that operating the reactor system's combustion chamber at a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio of 300:1 or higher during the combustion of the supplemental fuel stream to heat the catalyst during catalyst processing increases reactant conversion in the reactor system compared to operating the combustion chamber at catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratios of less than 300:1. This high catalyst catalytic activity can result in a longer catalyst life in the reactor system and may allow for increased unit capacity of the reactor system.The increased catalyst activity resulting from maintaining a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the combustion chamber of 300:1 or more may allow the reactor system to operate with a less active metal, such as platinum, gallium, or both, in the reactor system (e.g., less bulk catalyst inventory, less active metal in the catalyst, use of a more aged catalyst, or combinations thereof).

[0023] As used herein, the term fluidized reactor system refers to a reactor system in which one or more reactants are brought into contact with a catalyst in a fluidized regime, such as a bubble flow regime, plug flow regime, turbulent regime, rapid fluidization regime, pneumatic conveying regime, or combinations thereof 82708-AR-NP in different portions of the reactor system. For example, in a fluidized reactor system, a feed stream containing one or more reactants can be contacted with the circulating catalyst at an operating temperature to carry out a continuous reaction to produce the product stream.

[0024] As used herein, continuous reaction may refer to a chemical reaction carried out by feeding reactants, catalysts, or combinations thereof, and continuously removing products from a reactor or reaction zone under substantially steady-state conditions for a period of time, defined by the start of the reaction at the beginning of the time period and the cessation of the reaction at the end of the time period. Accordingly, the operation of the reactor systems described herein may include the start of the reaction, the continuous reaction, and the cessation of the reaction.

[0025] As used herein, deactivated catalyst may refer to a catalyst that has decreased catalytic activity resulting from coke buildup and / or loss of catalyst active sites.

[0026] As used herein, catalytic activity or catalyst activity may refer to the degree to which the catalyst is able to catalyze the reactions carried out in the reactor system.

[0027] As used herein, catalyst processing may refer to preparing the catalyst for reintroduction into the reactor portion of the reactor system and may include removing coke deposits from the catalyst, heating the catalyst, reactivating the catalyst, extracting one or more constituents from the catalyst, other processing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0028] As used herein, processed catalyst may refer to the catalyst that has been processed in the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system.

[0029] As used herein, catalyst reactivation or reactivating the catalyst may refer to processing the catalyst that has been at least partially deactivated to restore at least a portion of its activity 82708-AR-NP of the catalyst to produce a reactivated catalyst. Among other ways, the catalyst that has been at least partially deactivated can be reactivated by recovery of the catalyst acidity, oxidation of the catalyst, some other reactivation process, or combinations thereof. For example, in some embodiments, reactivation of the catalyst may include treating the catalyst with an oxygen-containing gas for a period of more than 2 minutes.

[0030] As used herein, supplemental fuel may refer to any fuel source introduced into the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system to facilitate the removal of coke from the catalyst and / or the heating of the catalyst. Supplemental fuel does not include coke deposited on the catalyst.

[0031] As discussed earlier herein, according to one or more embodiments, the methods and processes described herein may be used to carry out a reaction in a reactor system to process one or more chemical streams. By way of non-limiting example, the reactor systems described herein may be used to produce light olefins from hydrocarbon feed streams through the continuous reaction of the hydrocarbon feed streams with a dehydrogenation catalyst. For example, in some embodiments, light olefins may be produced by the dehydrogenation of a hydrocarbon feed stream in the presence of a catalyst comprising platinum, gallium, or both, in a fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation (FCDh) reactor system.Although the processes and methods for processing a chemical stream in a reactor system are described herein in the context of processing hydrocarbons to form light olefins via fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation, it should be understood that the processes and methods described herein can be used with any reactor system that includes a catalyst having an active metal, such as platinum, gallium, another active metal, or combinations thereof, and that includes heating the catalyst by burning a supplementary fuel. Thus, the methods and... 82708-AR-NP processes described herein for processing a chemical stream in a reactor system may not be limited only to embodiments for reactor systems designed to produce light olefins or alkylaromatic compounds by fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation, such as the reactor system in Figure 1.

[0032] Reactor systems and methods for processing chemical streams will now be discussed in more detail. The chemical stream being processed may be called the feed stream, which is processed by a reaction to form a product stream. The feed stream may have a composition, and, depending on the composition of the feed stream, a suitable catalyst may be used to convert the contents of the feed stream into a product stream that may include light olefins or other chemicals. For example, a feed stream for an FCDh reactor system may comprise at least one of propane, n-butane, isobutane, ethane, or ethylbenzene. In the FCDh system, the feed stream may be converted into light olefins or other products by dehydrogenation in the presence of a dehydrogenation catalyst.

[0033] In some embodiments, the catalyst for carrying out dehydrogenation in an FCDh reactor system may include a catalyst comprising platinum, gallium, or both. In some embodiments, the catalyst may further include one or more noble metals from Groups 9 and 10 of the IUPAC periodic table. For example, in some embodiments, the catalyst may include one or more noble metals selected from palladium (Pd), rhenium (Rh), iridium (Ir), or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the catalyst may also include one or more metals selected from indium (In), germanium (Ge), or combinations thereof. The catalyst may also include a promoter metal, such as an alkali or alkali metal. In some embodiments, the promoter metal may be potassium. The catalyst metals may be supported on a carrier.The carrier may include one or more inorganic bulk metal oxides, such as silica, alumina, silica-containing alumina, zirconium. 82708-AR-NP (ZrO2), titanium (TiO2), other metal oxides, or combinations of metal oxides. In some embodiments, the carrier may include a microporous material, such as ZSM-5 zeolite. Catalytic metals, such as platinum, gallium, potassium, and / or other catalytically active metals, may be supported on the surface of the carrier or incorporated within the carrier. In some embodiments, the catalyst may include platinum, gallium, and optionally potassium supported on an alumina carrier containing silica.

[0034] With regard to Figure 1, an example reactor system 102 is schematically represented. In general, the reactor system 102 includes a reactor portion 200 and a catalyst processing portion 300. As used herein in the context of Figure 1, the reactor portion 200 refers to the portion of a reactor system 102 in which the main reaction of the process takes place. For example, reactor system 102 may be an FCDh reactor system in which the feed stream is dehydrogenated in the presence of the dehydrogenation catalyst in reactor portion 200 of reactor system 102. Reactor portion 200 comprises a reactor 202 which may include a downstream reactor section 230, an upstream reactor section 250, and a catalyst separation section 210, which serves to separate the catalyst from the chemicals formed in reactor 202.

[0035] Furthermore, as used herein, the catalyst processing portion 300 of the system in Figure 1 generally refers to the portion of a reactor system 102 in which the catalyst is processed in some way, such as by removing coke deposits, heating the catalyst, reactivating the catalyst, other processing operations, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the catalyst processing portion 300 may include a combustion chamber 350, a riser 330, a catalyst separation section 310, and an oxygen treatment zone 370. The combustion chamber 350 of the catalyst processing portion 300 may include one or more bottom combustion chamber inlet ports 352 and may be in 82708-AR-NP fluid communication with the riser duct 330. The combustion chamber 350 may be in fluid communication with the catalyst separation section 210 via the feed pipe 426, which can supply deactivated catalyst from the reactor portion 200 to the catalyst processing portion 300 for catalyst processing (e.g., coke removal, heating, reactivation, etc.). The oxygen treatment zone 370 may be in fluid communication with the upstream reactor section 250 (e.g., via the feed pipe 424 and the transport riser duct 430), which can supply processed catalyst from the catalyst processing portion 300 back to the reactor portion 200. The combustion chamber 350 may include an additional combustion chamber inlet port 352, where the air inlet 428 connects to the combustion chamber 350.Air inlet 428 can supply air or other reactive gases, such as an oxygen-containing gas, to combustion chamber 350. Air and / or other reactive gases can be introduced into combustion chamber 350 to contribute to the combustion of the supplemental fuel stream. Combustion chamber 350 can also include a supplemental fuel inlet 354. Supplemental fuel inlet 354 can supply a supplemental fuel stream 356 to combustion chamber 350. Oxygen treatment zone 370 can include an oxygen-containing gas inlet 372, which can supply an oxygen-containing gas to oxygen treatment zone 370 for oxygen treatment of the catalyst.

[0036] With respect to Figure 1, in some embodiments, the catalyst processing portion 300 may include a combustion chamber catalyst recycling 440. In some embodiments, the combustion chamber catalyst recycling 440 may fluidly couple the catalyst separation section 310 or the oxygen treatment zone 370 to the combustion chamber 350. Therefore, the catalyst separation section 310 or the oxygen treatment zone 370 may be in fluid communication with the combustion chamber 350 through 82708-AR-NP of the combustion chamber catalyst recycling 440 to pass the heated or reactivated catalyst back to the combustion chamber 350. The combustion chamber catalyst recycling 440 may include a control device (not shown) operable to control a rate of catalyst recycling from the catalyst separation section 310 or the oxygen treatment zone 370 back to the combustion chamber 350. In some embodiments, the heated catalyst can be recycled from the catalyst separation section 310 back to the combustion chamber 350 before being reactivated in the oxygen treatment zone 370. In other embodiments, the reactivated catalyst from the oxygen treatment zone 370 can be recycled back to the combustion chamber 350 after reactivation in the oxygen treatment zone 370.

[0037] With reference to Figure 1, the general operation of reactor system 102 for carrying out a continuous reaction will be described. During the operation of reactor portion 200 of reactor system 102, the feed stream can enter the upstream transport conduit 430, and the product stream can exit reactor system 102 through pipe 420. According to one or more embodiments, reactor system 102 can be operated by feeding the upstream reactor section 250 with a chemical feed (e.g., in a feed stream) and a fluidized catalyst. The chemical feed can come into contact with the catalyst in the upstream reactor section 250, and each can flow upward to and through the downstream reactor section 230 to produce a chemical product.The chemical and catalyst can be passed out of the downstream reactor section 230 to a separation device 220 in the catalyst separation section 210. The catalyst can be separated from the chemical in the separation device 220. The chemical can then be conveyed out of the catalyst separation section 210. For example, the separated vapors can be removed from the reactor system 102 through a pipe 420 at an outlet port. 82708-AR-NP gas 216 of the catalyst separation section 210. According to one or more embodiments, the separation device 220 may be a cyclonic separation system, which may include two or more cyclonic separation stages.

[0038] According to some embodiments, after the vapors are separated in the separation device 220, the catalyst can generally be moved through the extraction column 224 to the catalyst outlet port of reactor 222, where the catalyst can be transferred out of reactor portion 200 through feed pipe 426 and into the catalyst processing portion 300. Optionally, the catalyst can also be transferred back directly to the upstream reactor section 250 through feed pipe 422. In some embodiments, the recycled catalyst from the extraction column 224 can be premixed with the processed catalyst from the catalyst processing portion 300 in the upstream transport pipe 430.

[0039] The separated catalyst can be passed from the catalyst separation section 210 to the combustion chamber 350 of the catalyst processing portion 300. The catalyst can be processed in the catalyst processing portion 300 to remove coke deposits, heat the catalyst, reactivate the catalyst, perform some other catalyst processing, or any combination thereof. As discussed above, catalyst processing in the catalyst processing portion 300 can include removing coke deposits from the catalyst, raising the catalyst temperature through combustion of a fuel source, reactivating the catalyst, extracting one or more constituents from the catalyst, some other processing operation, or combinations thereof.In some embodiments, the processing of the catalyst in processing portion 300 may include burning a fuel source in the presence of the catalyst in combustion chamber 350 to remove coke deposits and / or heating the catalyst to produce a heated catalyst. The heated catalyst may be separated from the combustion gases in catalyst separation portion 310. According to implementation 82708-AR-NP, the heated catalyst can be reactivated by oxygen treatment. Oxygen treatment may involve exposing the catalyst to an oxygen-containing gas for a period of time sufficient to reactivate it.

[0040] In some embodiments, the fuel source may include coke or other contaminants deposited on the catalyst in reactor portion 200 of reactor system 102. In some reaction systems, the catalyst may be coked following reactions in reactor portion 200, and the coke may be removed from the catalyst by a combustion reaction in combustion chamber 350. For example, combustion chamber 350 may be fed with an oxidant (such as air) through air inlet 428.

[0041] However, as discussed above, in some reaction systems, the coke and other contaminants deposited on the catalyst may not be sufficient to heat the catalyst to a temperature high enough to carry out the endothermic reactions in the reactor portion 200. Therefore, the fuel source may further include the supplementary fuel stream 356, which can be introduced into the combustion chamber 350 through a supplementary fuel inlet 354. For example, the supplementary fuel stream 356 can be injected into the combustion chamber 350 through the supplementary fuel inlet 354 and can be burned to heat the catalyst to a temperature sufficient to carry out the endothermic reactions in the reactor portion 200, as well as to meet the other heat demands in the entire system 102.In some embodiments, coke cannot form on the catalyst, so the supplementary fuel 356 provides all the heat to raise the catalyst temperature and / or for other system heat requirements. In some embodiments, reactive gases, such as an oxygen-containing gas (e.g., air) or another oxidant, can be introduced into the combustion chamber 350 through the lower combustion chamber inlet port 352 and can react with it. 82708-AR-NP supplemental fuel of supplemental fuel stream 356 to promote combustion of the supplemental fuel in order to heat the catalyst to produce a heated catalyst. As used herein, the term heated catalyst refers to the catalyst after heating by combustion of supplemental fuel stream 356, wherein the catalyst has a higher temperature than that of the catalyst that was passed from catalyst separation section 210 to catalyst processing portion 300 of reactor system 102.

[0042] With respect to Figure 1, the processed catalyst can be passed out of the combustion chamber 350 and through the riser 330 to a riser termination separator 378, where the gas and solid components of the riser 330 can be at least partially separated. The remaining vapor and solids can be conveyed to a secondary separation device 320 in the catalyst separation section 310, where the remaining processed catalyst is separated from the catalyst processing gases (e.g., gases emitted from the combustion of coke deposits and supplemental fuel). In some embodiments, the secondary separation device 320 can include a cyclone separation unit or a plurality thereof, which can be arranged in series or in multiple pairs of cyclones.The combustion gases from the combustion of coke and / or the supplementary fuel stream 356 during catalyst processing or other gases introduced into the catalyst during catalyst processing can be removed from the catalyst processing portion 300 through a combustion gas outlet 432.

[0043] As discussed above, catalyst processing in the catalyst processing portion 300 of reactor system 102 may include catalyst reactivation. Combustion of the supplemental fuel stream 356 in the presence of the catalyst to heat it may further deactivate it. Thus, in some embodiments, oxygen treatment to reactivate the catalyst may be performed after combustion of the fuel stream Supplementary 82708-AR-NP 356 for heating the catalyst. Conditioning the heated catalyst by treating it with an oxygen-containing gas for at least two minutes can reactivate the catalyst to produce a reactivated catalyst. The oxygen-containing gas can have an oxygen content of 5 mol% to 100 mol%, depending on the total molar flow rate of the oxygen-containing gas. In some embodiments, the catalyst can be reactivated by conditioning it with oxygen.Oxygen treatment of the catalyst may include holding the catalyst at a temperature of at least 660 °C while exposing the catalyst to a flow of an oxygen-containing gas for a period of time greater than two minutes and sufficient to produce a reactivated catalyst having a catalytic activity that is greater than that of the heated catalyst after being heated by combustion of the supplemental fuel stream 356.

[0044] With respect to Figure 1, the treatment of the heated catalyst with the oxygen-containing gas can be carried out in the oxygen treatment zone 370. In some embodiments, the oxygen treatment zone 370 can be arranged downstream of the catalyst separation portion 310 from the catalyst processing portion 300, so that the heated catalyst is separated from the combustion gases before being exposed to the oxygen-containing gas during oxygen treatment. In some embodiments, the oxygen treatment zone 370 can include a fluid-solids contacting device. The fluid-solids contacting device can include baffles or grid structures to facilitate contact of the heated catalyst with the oxygen-containing gas.Examples of fluid-solid contact devices are described in more detail in U.S. Patent No. 9,827,543 and U.S. Patent No. 9,815,040, both incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0045] In some embodiments, the catalyst processing in the catalyst processing portion 300 of reactor system 102 can 82708-AR-NP further includes extracting, from the reactivated oxygen-containing catalyst, molecular oxygen trapped within or between catalyst particles and physisorbed oxygen that can be desorbed at a temperature of at least 660°C. The extraction step may include maintaining the reactivated oxygen-containing catalyst at a temperature of at least 660°C and exposing the reactivated oxygen-containing catalyst to an extraction gas that is substantially free of molecular oxygen and combustibles for a period of time to remove the molecular oxygen from between the particles and the physisorbed oxygen that is desorbable at a temperature of at least 660°C. A further description of these catalyst reactivation processes is found in U.S. Patent No. 9,834,496, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0046] After catalyst processing, the processed catalyst can be passed from the catalyst processing portion 300 back to the reactor portion 200 via the feed pipe 424. For example, in some embodiments, the processed catalyst can be passed from the oxygen treatment zone 370 of the catalyst processing portion 300 to the upstream reactor section 250 via the feed pipe 424 and the upstream transport pipe 430, where the processed catalyst can be further used in a catalytic reaction. Thus, in operation, the catalyst can alternate between the reactor portion 200 and the catalyst processing portion 300. In general, the processed chemical streams, including the feed and product streams, can be gaseous, and the catalyst can be a fluidized particulate solid.

[0047] In some embodiments, the heated catalyst accumulated in the catalyst separation section 310 or the reactivated catalyst from the oxygen treatment zone 370 can be recycled back to the combustion chamber 350 via the combustion chamber catalyst recycling 440. The rate of catalyst recycling back to the combustion chamber 350 can be increased or decreased by manipulating the control device (not shown) in the combustion chamber catalyst recycling. 82708-AR-NP combustion 440. In some embodiments, the catalyst recycling rate from the catalyst separation section 310 or the oxygen treatment zone 370 to the combustion chamber 350 can be increased or decreased to increase or decrease the weight ratio of the catalyst to the hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber 350. In some embodiments, the heated catalyst can be recycled back to the combustion chamber 350 before being subjected to oxygen treatment. In other embodiments, the reactivated catalyst from the oxygen treatment zone 370 can be recycled to the combustion chamber 350 after being reactivated by oxygen treatment.

[0048] With regard to Figure 1 again, according to one or more embodiments, the processing of the catalyst in the catalyst processing portion 300 may include passing the catalyst from the reactor portion 200 of the reactor system 102 to the combustion chamber 350 of the catalyst processing portion 300, burning the supplementary fuel stream 356 in the combustion chamber 350 to heat the catalyst, subjecting the heated catalyst to oxygen treatment in the oxygen treatment zone 370 to produce a reactivated catalyst, and passing the reactivated catalyst from the catalyst processing portion 300 to the reactor portion 200.The combustion of the supplementary fuel stream 356 and / or the coke deposits in the catalyst processing portion 300 can remove coke deposits or other contaminants deposited on the catalyst, raise the catalyst temperature to the operating temperature range of the reactor portion 200, or both. For example, in some embodiments, the combustion of the supplementary fuel stream 356 in the combustion chamber 350 can raise the catalyst temperature to produce a heated catalyst. In some embodiments, coke deposits may not form on the catalyst during the reaction, and the supplementary fuel stream 356 can provide all the heat in the combustion chamber to raise the catalyst temperature to produce the heated catalyst. 82708-AR-NP

[0049] In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include one or more hydrocarbons. The one or more hydrocarbons may include hydrocarbons that comprise the energy value at the time of combustion. In some embodiments, the hydrocarbon may include one or more hydrocarbons that are gases at the operating temperatures of the combustion chamber 350 (i.e., from 650°C to 850°C), such as, but not limited to, alkanes, alkenes, aromatic hydrocarbons, or combinations thereof. Examples of alkanes that may be included as a hydrocarbon in the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include, but are not limited to, methane, ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, pentane, other alkanes, or combinations thereof.Examples of alkenes (olefins) that may be included as a hydrocarbon in supplemental fuel stream 356 may include, but are not limited to, ethylene, propylene, 1-butene, 2-butene, isobutene, other olefins, or combinations thereof. Examples of aromatic hydrocarbons that may be included as a hydrocarbon in supplemental fuel stream 356 may include, but are not limited to, benzene, toluene, xylene, other aromatic hydrocarbons, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the hydrocarbons may include a light hydrocarbon fuel gas (i.e., C1-C4). In other embodiments, the hydrocarbons may include heavy hydrocarbon fuel oils (C5+). In some embodiments, the hydrocarbon may include at least one of methane, ethane, propane, natural gas, another hydrocarbon fuel, or combinations thereof.In some embodiments, the one or more hydrocarbons may include methane.

[0050] In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include at least 1 mol% of hydrocarbon, depending on the total molar flow rate of the supplemental fuel stream. For example, in some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include 1 mol% or more, 5 mol% or more, 10 mol% or more, or 15 mol% or more of one or more hydrocarbons, depending on the total molar flow rate of the fuel stream. 82708-AR-NP Supplemental 356. In some embodiments, supplemental fuel stream 356 may include from 1 mol% to 99 mol%, from 1 mol% to 70 mol%, from 1 mol% to 60 mol%, from 1 mol% to 50 mol%, from 1 mol% to 30 mol%, from 5 mol% to 99 mol%, from 5 mol% to 70 mol%, from 5 mol% to 60 mol%, from 5 mol% to 50 mol%, from 5 mol% to 30 mol%, from 10 mol% to 99 mol%, from 10 mol% to 70 mol%, from 10 mol% to 60 mol%, from 10 mol% to 50 mol%, or from 10 mol% to 30% molar of hydrocarbons as a function of the total molar flow rate of the supplemental fuel stream 356. Some hydrocarbon-based supplemental fuels, such as methane and natural gas, for example, have a relatively high calorific value and are economical.Thus, in some embodiments, hydrocarbon fuels, such as methane and natural gas, for example, can be used in the supplementary fuel stream 356 to reduce the operating costs of the reactor system 102. In other embodiments, the hydrocarbon can be present in a waste gas stream that is passed to the combustion chamber 350 as at least a portion of the supplementary fuel stream 356, wherein the waste gas stream originates from a hydrocarbon processing system.

[0051] In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may also include hydrogen. For example, in some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include 50 mol% or more hydrogen, such as 70 mol% or more, 75 mol% or more, 80 mol% or more, 85 mol% or more, or 90 mol% or more hydrogen, depending on the overall molar flow rate of the supplemental fuel stream 356. For example, in some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include from 40 mol% to 100%, from 70 mol% to 100 mol%, from 70 mol% to 99 mol%, from 70 mol% to 95 mol%, from 70 mol% to 90 mol%, from 70 mol% to 85 mol%, from 75 mol% to 100 mol%, from 75 mol% to 99 mol%, from 75 % molar to 95% molar, from 75% molar to 90% molar, from 75% molar to 85% molar, from 80% molar to 100% molar, from 80% molar to 99% 82708-AR-NP molar, from 80 mol% to 95 mol%, from 80 mol% to 90 mol%, from 85 mol% to 100 mol%, from 85 mol% to 99 mol%, from 85 mol% to 95 mol%, or from 90 mol% to 100 mol% of hydrogen depending on the total molar flow rate of the supplemental fuel stream 356. In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include 25 wt% or more, 30 wt% or more, 35 wt% or more, 40 wt% or more, or 50 wt% or more of hydrogen depending on the flow rate of the total mass of the supplemental fuel stream 356.For example, in some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream may include from 25 wt% to 100 wt%, from 25 wt% to 99 wt%, from 25 wt% to 95 wt%, from 30 wt% to 100 wt%, from 30 wt% to 99 wt%, from wt% to 95 wt%, from 35 wt% to 100 wt%, from 35 wt% to 99 wt%, from 35 wt% to 95 wt%, from 40 wt% to 100 wt%, from 40 wt% to 99 wt%, from 40 wt% to 95 wt%, from 50 wt% to 100 wt%, or from 50 wt% to 99 wt% of hydrogen.

[0052] As discussed previously, the combustion chamber 350 can be operated with a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the supplemental fuel stream of 300:1 or more, such as 500:1 or more, 700:1 or more, 1000:1 or more, or even 1500:1 or more. For example, in some embodiments, the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the combustion chamber can be from 300:1 to 10,000:1, from 300:1 to 5000:1, from 300:1 to 2500:1, from 500:1 to 10,000:1, from 500:1 to 5000:1, from 500:1 to 2500:1, from 700:1 to 10000:1, from 700:1 to 5000:1, from 700:1 to 2500:1, of 1000:1 to 5000:1, or 1500:1 to 5000:1.

[0053] It was surprisingly discovered that operating the combustion chamber 350 of the catalyst processing portion 300 at a catalyst to hydrocarbon weight ratio greater than or equal to 300:1 can increase the reactor system conversion compared to operating combustion chamber 350 at a lower catalyst to hydrocarbon weight ratio (e.g., <300:1). 82708-AR-NP

[0054] Operating combustion chamber 350 at a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio of at least 300:1 can reduce the amount of deactivation that occurs at the catalyst active sites during combustion of the supplemental fuel stream 356 in combustion chamber 350. Therefore, the heated catalyst produced by operating the combustion chamber at a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio greater than or equal to 300:1 can have higher catalytic activity compared to catalyst heated in the combustion chamber operated at a lower catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio. Operating combustion chamber 350 at a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio of at least 300:1 can increase the catalyst life in the reactor system 102.Furthermore, operating combustion chamber 350 at a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio of at least 300:1 can also increase the capacity of reactor system 102, for example, among other things, by increasing the conversion for a specific catalyst load or reducing the catalyst load required to achieve target conversion, compared to operating combustion chamber 350 at a lower catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio.For example, in a reactor system 102 that uses a catalyst comprising platinum, gallium, or both to dehydrogenate propane to produce propylene, operating combustion chamber 350 at a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio of at least 300:1 can result in the same conversion performance in the reactor system with a less active metal (e.g., platinum, gallium, or both) compared to operating combustion chamber 350 with a lower catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio. Operating the reactor system with a less active metal (e.g., platinum, gallium, or both) can include operating with a smaller bulk inventory of catalyst in the reactor system or reducing the amount of active metal (e.g., platinum, gallium, or both) in the catalyst (e.g., by using a catalyst with less active metal applied or by using an aged catalyst). 82708-AR-NP

[0055] In some embodiments, the weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbon in combustion chamber 350 can be increased or decreased by modifying the type and concentrations of the combustible gases in the supplemental fuel stream 356, by modifying the flow rate of the supplemental fuel stream 356, by modifying the rate of catalyst recycling from the catalyst separation section 310 or the oxygen treatment zone 370 to combustion chamber 350, or combinations thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the molar concentration of hydrocarbons in the supplemental fuel stream 356 can be increased or decreased to decrease or increase, respectively, the weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbon in combustion chamber 350.For example, increasing the molar concentration of hydrocarbon in the supplemental fuel stream 356 can decrease the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the combustion chamber 350. Conversely, decreasing the molar concentration of hydrocarbons in the supplemental fuel stream 356 can increase the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the combustion chamber 350.

[0056] In some embodiments, the weight ratio of the catalyst to the hydrocarbons in the combustion chamber 350 can be increased or decreased by decreasing or increasing, respectively, the flow rate of the supplementary fuel stream 356 to the combustion chamber 350 at a constant feed rate of the catalyst to the combustion chamber 350. For example, by decreasing the flow rate of the supplementary fuel stream 356 while keeping the feed rate of the catalyst to the combustion chamber constant, the weight ratio of the catalyst to the hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber 350 can be increased.

[0057] In some embodiments, the weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber 350 can be increased or decreased by modifying a catalyst recycling rate from the catalyst separation section 310 or the oxygen treatment zone 82708-AR-NP 370 to combustion chamber 350. For example, increasing the catalyst recycling rate to combustion chamber 350 can increase the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in combustion chamber 350. Conversely, decreasing the catalyst recycling rate to combustion chamber 350 can decrease the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in combustion chamber 350. In some embodiments, combustion chamber 350 can operate under constant heat input conditions. In these embodiments, the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in combustion chamber 350 can be modified by increasing or decreasing the hydrocarbon molar concentration in the supplemental fuel stream 356 and by making a corresponding adjustment to the flow rate of the supplemental fuel stream 356 to maintain a constant heat input rate.Alternatively, under constant heat input conditions, the weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbon in combustion chamber 350 can be modified by increasing or decreasing the rate of catalyst recycling to combustion chamber 350 and by keeping the composition and flow rate of the supplemental fuel stream 356 constant.

[0058] In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include a hydrogen stream of purity comprising 99 mol% or more hydrogen, depending on the overall molar flow rate of the supplemental fuel stream. In some embodiments, the hydrogen stream may be combined with one or more streams comprising hydrocarbons to produce the supplemental fuel stream 356. In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include a process stream from a hydrocarbon processing plant. The process stream from a hydrocarbon processing plant / system may include 50 mol% or more, 60 mol% or more, 70 mol% or more, 80 mol% or more, or 90 mol% or more hydrogen, depending on the overall molar flow rate of the process stream. In some embodiments, the 82708-AR-NP The process stream from a hydrocarbon processing plant may be a waste gas stream. For example, in some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include a waste gas stream from an FCDh reactor system, such as, among others, a propane dehydrogenation process, and / or a waste gas stream from a light hydrocarbon cracking process. It is understood that waste gas streams from other hydrocarbon processing systems having 40 mol% or more hydrogen may also be used or included in the supplemental fuel stream 356. In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may consist of, or essentially consist of, a waste gas stream from a hydrocarbon processing system.In other embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include the waste gas stream in combination with one or more of other fuel streams comprising hydrogen, a hydrocarbon component, or combinations of both.

[0059] With regard to Figure 2, a flow diagram of an FCDh 502 process for dehydrogenating hydrocarbons to produce olefins and other products (e.g., ethylbenzene styrene) is depicted. In the FCDh 502 process of Figure 2, a waste gas stream 544 from the dehydrogenation reaction can be passed to the combustion chamber 350 to provide at least a portion of the supplemental fuel stream 356. The FCDh 502 process depicted in Figure 2 can include the reactor system 102 shown in Figure 1. The FCDh 502 process can include the reactor 202, the catalyst separation section 210, the combustion chamber 350, and the oxygen treatment zone 370. The FCDh 502 process can further include a product separator 540 downstream of the catalyst separation section 210.

[0060] During continuous operation of the FCDh 502 process of Figure 2, a chemical feed 512 and the reactivated catalyst 532 from the oxygen treatment zone 370 can be introduced into reactor 202. The contact of the reactants in the chemical feed 512 with the catalyst Reactivated catalyst 532 (82708-AR-NP) can convert a portion of the reactants in the chemical feed 512 into one or more reaction products (e.g., ethylene, propylene, styrene, etc.) and byproducts. A reactor effluent 514 can be passed from reactor 202 to the catalyst separation section 210. The reactor effluent 514 can include at least catalyst, reaction products, and unreacted reactants from the chemical feed, but can also include byproducts, intermediate compounds, impurities, carrier gases, or other constituents. The catalyst separation section 210 can separate the reactor effluent 514 into a gaseous effluent stream 522 and a deactivated catalyst stream 524. The gaseous effluent stream 522 can include at least reaction products and unreacted reactant gases.The deactivated catalyst stream 524 can be passed to the combustion chamber 350 for at least a portion of the catalyst processing. In the combustion chamber 350, the supplemental fuel stream 356 can be burned in the presence of the deactivated catalyst stream 524 to remove coke from the catalyst, heat the catalyst, or both. After combustion, the heated catalyst 531 can be separated from the flue gases 534 and passed to the oxygen treatment zone 370. In the oxygen treatment zone 370, the heated catalyst 531 can be treated with an oxygen-containing gas 533 to produce the reactivated catalyst 532. The reactivated catalyst 532 can then be passed back to the reactor 202.

[0061] Still referring to Figure 2, the gaseous effluent stream 522 can be passed to the product separator 540, which can be operated to separate the gaseous effluent stream 522 into at least one product stream 542 and at least one waste gas stream 544. The waste gas stream 544 recovered from the product separator 540 of the FCDh process 502 can include at least 40 mol%, at least 70 mol%, at least 75 mol%, at least 80 mol%, at least 85 mol%, or even at least 90 mol% hydrogen, depending on the overall molar flow rate of the waste gas stream 544. The waste gas stream 544 can also include methane, nitrogen, and / or other constituents. At least a portion of the 82708-AR-NP The waste gas stream 544 recovered from the product separator 540 can be passed to the combustion chamber 350 as at least a portion of the supplemental fuel stream 356. In some embodiments, the waste gas stream 544 can be combined with a secondary fuel stream 358 to produce the supplemental fuel stream 356. In some embodiments, the secondary fuel stream 358 can be a hydrogen-containing stream having a higher hydrogen concentration than the waste gas stream 544. In other embodiments, the secondary fuel stream 358 can be a hydrocarbon stream comprising one or more hydrocarbons, such as methane or natural gas, for example.In some embodiments, the flow rate of the secondary fuel stream 358, the flow rate of the residual gas stream 544, or both, can be increased or decreased to increase or decrease the weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber 350.

[0062] The FCDh 502 process may also include a catalyst recycling stream 536 to recycle the reactivated catalyst 532 back to the combustion chamber 350 of the FCDh 502 process. In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356, which includes at least a portion of the waste gas stream 544, may have a fixed composition. The catalyst recycling stream 536 may therefore be modified to adjust the weight ratio of the catalyst to the hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber 350.

[0063] With regard now to Figure 3, a process flow diagram represents an embodiment in which a cracker waste gas stream 628 from a light hydrocarbon cracking process 602 can be passed to the combustion chamber 350 of reactor system 102 as at least a portion of the supplemental fuel stream 356. As discussed above, reactor system 102 may include reactor 202, catalyst separation section 210, combustion chamber 350, and oxygen treatment zone 370. In continuous operation, a Chemical feed 104 and a reactivated catalyst 112 from the oxygen treatment zone 370 can be introduced into reactor 202, in which contact of the reactivated catalyst 112 with reactants in the chemical feed 104 can convert at least a portion of the reactants in the chemical feed 512 into one or more reaction products. A reactor effluent 106 can be passed from reactor 202 to the catalyst separation section 210, in which the reactor effluent 106 can be separated into a gaseous effluent stream 108 and a deactivated catalyst stream 110. The gaseous effluent stream 108, which can include at least one reaction product, can be passed to one or more downstream operations for further processing. The deactivated catalyst stream 110 can be passed to the combustion chamber 350 for at least a portion of the catalyst processing.In combustion chamber 350, the supplemental fuel stream 356 can be burned in the presence of the deactivated catalyst stream 110 to remove coke from the catalyst, heat the catalyst, or both. After combustion, the heated catalyst 111 can be separated from the flue gases 534 and passed from combustion chamber 350 to the oxygen treatment zone 370. In the oxygen treatment zone 370, the heated catalyst 111 can be treated with an oxygen-containing gas 533 to produce the reactivated catalyst 112. The reactivated catalyst 112 can then be passed back to reactor 202.

[0064] Still referring to Figure 3, the light hydrocarbon cracking process 602 may include a light hydrocarbon cracking unit 610 and a light hydrocarbon processing portion 620. During the continuous operation of the light hydrocarbon cracking process 602, one or more light hydrocarbon streams 612 may be introduced into the light hydrocarbon cracking unit 610, wherein the light hydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon streams 612 are cracked to produce a cracker effluent 614 that includes one or more reaction products. For example, in some embodiments, the light hydrocarbon cracking unit 610 may be a steam cracker, and the light hydrocarbon streams 612 may include 82708-AR-NP ethane and propane, which can be steam cracked in the steam cracker to produce at least ethylene. The effluent from cracker 614 can be passed to the light hydrocarbon processing portion 620 of the light hydrocarbon cracking process 602. The light hydrocarbon processing portion 620 can include a plurality of unit operations, such as, but not limited to, vapor compression, separation, sulfur and carbon dioxide removal, drying, or other operations. The light hydrocarbon processing portion 620 can ultimately separate the cracker effluent 614 into a plurality of gaseous streams, such as, among others, an ethylene product stream 622, a propylene product stream 624, a propane stream 626, a cracker waste gas stream 628, and other streams.

[0065] The cracker waste gas stream 628 may include at least 40 mol% hydrogen, such as from 50 mol% to 90 mol% hydrogen. At least a portion of the cracker waste gas stream 628 may be passed to the combustion chamber 350 of reactor system 102 to be included as a portion of the supplementary fuel stream 356. For example, in some embodiments, the cracker waste gas stream 628 may be passed directly to the combustion chamber 350 of reactor system 102 as the supplementary fuel stream 356, such that the supplementary fuel stream 356 consists of or essentially consists of the cracker waste gas stream 628. In some embodiments, the cracker waste gas stream 628 may be combined with a secondary fuel stream 358 to produce the supplementary fuel stream 356.The secondary fuel stream 358 may be a hydrogen-containing stream having a higher hydrogen concentration than the cracker waste gas stream 628. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the secondary fuel stream 358 may be a hydrocarbon stream comprising one or more hydrocarbons. In some embodiments, the flow rate of the secondary fuel stream 358, the flow rate of the cracker waste gas stream 628, or. 82708-AR-NP both, can be increased or decreased to increase or decrease the weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber 350.

[0066] The reactor system 102 may also include the catalyst recycle stream 536 to recycle the reactivated catalyst 532 back to the combustion chamber 350 of the FCDh process. In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356, which includes at least a portion of the cracker waste gas stream 628, may have a fixed composition. The flow rate of the catalyst recycle stream 536 may therefore be increased or decreased to adjust the weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber 350. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the cracker waste gas stream 628 may be combined with a waste gas stream from the reactor system 102 (e.g., the waste gas stream 544 from the FCDh process 502 of Figure 2) to produce the supplemental fuel stream 356.The supplemental fuel stream 356 may include waste gas streams from other hydrocarbon processes. In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 may include at least one of a waste gas from an FCDh process, a cracker waste gas from a light hydrocarbon cracking unit, a hydrogen stream of a specific purity, or combinations thereof.

[0067] In some embodiments, the reactor system 102 and the light hydrocarbon cracking process 602 can be integrated to combine the separation of the product streams into a single system. For example, in some embodiments, the gaseous effluent stream 108 from the reactor system 102 can be combined with the cracker effluent 614 from the light hydrocarbon cracking unit 610, and the combined effluent stream (not shown) can be passed to the light hydrocarbon processing portion 620. Thus, in these embodiments, the light hydrocarbon processing portion 620 can separate the combined effluent stream (e.g., the combination of 82708-AR-NP both the gaseous effluent stream 108 and the cracker effluent 614) in a plurality of gaseous streams, such as, among others, the ethylene product stream 622, the propylene product stream 624, the propane stream 626, the cracker waste gas stream 628, and other streams. In particular, in some embodiments, the gaseous effluent stream 522 (Figure 2) from the FCDh process 502 (Figure 2) can be combined with the cracker effluent 614 from the light hydrocarbon cracking process and can be passed with it to the light hydrocarbon processing portion 620 of the light hydrocarbon cracking process 602, so that the cracker waste gas stream 628 includes the waste gases produced by the light hydrocarbon cracking unit 610 and the FCDh process 502 (Figure 2).

[0068] With respect to Figure 4, in some embodiments, the cracker waste gas stream 628 can be passed to a separator device 630, such as a turboexpander or other separation device. The separator device 630 can be operated to separate the cracker waste gas stream 628 into a hydrogen-rich stream 362 and a hydrocarbon-rich stream 360. The hydrogen-rich stream 362, the hydrocarbon-rich stream 360, or both, can be passed from the separator device 630 to the combustion chamber 350 of the reactor system 102 as at least a portion of the supplemental fuel stream 356. In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 can include the hydrogen-rich stream 362 from the separator device 630.Waste gas streams from other hydrocarbon processing systems (e.g., waste gas stream 544 from the FCDh process 502 in Figure 2) can also be passed to a separator device 630 to produce a hydrogen-rich stream and a hydrocarbon-rich stream, and then at least the hydrogen-rich stream is passed to the combustion chamber 350 as part of the supplemental fuel stream 356. In some embodiments, the operating parameters of the separator device 630 can be modified to increase or decrease a hydrocarbon concentration in the stream. 82708-AR-NP supplementary fuel 356 to thereby increase or decrease the weight ratio of catalyst to hydrocarbon in the combustion chamber 350.

[0069] During the continuous reaction phase of the operation of reactor system 102, the catalyst processing portion 300 of reactor system 102, particularly the combustion chamber 350, can be maintained at a temperature within an operating temperature range sufficient to reactivate the catalyst. For example, in some embodiments, the combustion chamber 350 can be maintained at a temperature higher than the operating temperature of reactor portion 200 of reactor system 102. In some embodiments, the operating temperature range of the combustion chamber 350 can be 650 °C or higher, 660 °C or higher, even 680 °C or higher, or even 700 °C or higher. In some embodiments, the combustion chamber temperature range 350 can be from 650 °C to 850 °C, from 660 °C to 780 °C, or from 700 °C to 750 °C.As discussed earlier herein, maintaining the operating temperature in combustion chamber 350 may include the combustion of a supplementary fuel in combustion chamber 350.

[0070] Referring again to Figure 1, the supplemental fuel stream 356 can be introduced into the combustion chamber 350 of the catalyst processing portion 300. In some embodiments, the supplemental fuel stream 356 can be introduced into the combustion chamber 350 through one or more distributors (not shown) arranged within the combustion chamber 350. Before introducing the supplemental fuel stream 356 into the combustion chamber 350, the supplemental fuel stream 356 can be passed through a compressor (not shown) to increase the pressure of the supplemental fuel stream 356. The supplemental fuel stream 356 can be supplied to the combustion chamber 350 at a pressure ranging from 5 pounds per square inch above atmospheric pressure (psig) to 200 psig (from 34.47 kilopascals (kPa) to 1378.95 kPa, where 1 psig = 82708-AR-NP 6.89 kPa). In some embodiments, a control valve (not shown) may be included to control the flow rate of the supplementary fuel stream 356 and adjust the supplementary fuel gas pressure to match the operating pressure of the reactor system 102 and / or the combustion chamber 350. In some embodiments, the supplementary fuel stream 356 may be preheated, for example by passing the supplementary fuel stream 356 through an optional heat exchanger (not shown).

[0071] According to one or more embodiments, the reaction in reactor system 102 may be an FCDh reaction system for dehydrogenating paraffins and alkylaromatic compounds to produce olefins or other products. According to such embodiments, the feed stream may comprise paraffinic compounds such as one or more of ethane, propane, n-butane, and i-butane. In some embodiments, the feed stream may include at least 50 wt% of ethane, propane, n-butane, i-butane, or combinations thereof. In one or more embodiments, a dehydrogenation reaction may utilize a catalyst comprising platinum, gallium, or combinations thereof. The platinum and / or gallium may be carried by an alumina or silica-alumina support and may optionally comprise potassium. Such platinum catalysts are described in U.S. Patent No. 8,669.406, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In some embodiments, reactor system 102 can be an FCDh reaction system for dehydrogenating alkylaromatic compounds to produce other products. For example, the feed stream can include ethylbenzene, and reactor system 102 can be an FCDh reactor system for dehydrogenating the ethylbenzene to produce styrene. 82708-AR-NP EXAMPLES

[0072] The methods of carrying out this disclosure will be further clarified by the following non-limiting examples.

[0073] Example 1: Effect of catalyst to hydrocarbon weight ratio on the conversion of propane dehydrogenation reactions at a relatively low heat input

[0074] In Example 1, the effects of increasing the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the combustion chamber on propane conversion in a propane dehydrogenation reactor system were evaluated during operation of the reactor system at a relatively low heat input. The propane dehydrogenation reactions were carried out using a Davidson Circulating Riser (DCR) pilot plant unit obtained from Grace Davidson, which has an upflow fluidized reactor portion and a catalyst processing portion. The DCR unit was modified to allow in-situ fuel combustion in the catalyst processing portion. Each reaction run 1A–1D was performed with 4100 grams of freshly loaded catalyst comprising platinum and gallium supported on a silica-containing alumina carrier.The inlet temperature to the DCR unit's upstream reactor was controlled at 630 °C and the pressure was set at 13 psig. The propane feed was HD-5 propane with approximately 30 parts per million (ppm) of sulfur on a molar basis. The propane feed was diluted in nitrogen, so the partial pressure of propane in the feed stream was approximately 4.3 psig.

[0075] The temperature for catalyst processing was maintained in the range of 700 °C to 750 °C. Catalyst processing included combustion of a supplemental fuel stream followed by oxygen treatment in which the catalyst was exposed to an oxygen-containing gas (air) for an oxygen soak time. For reaction runs 1A-1E, the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratios in the catalyst processing portion were 82708-AR-NP were adjusted by changing the molar concentration of methane in the supplemental fuel stream. The flow rate of the supplemental fuel stream was increased by decreasing the methane concentration to maintain the reactor system operating at a constant heat input of approximately 1,600 BTU / hour (1.6 KBTU / h), referred to in these Examples as low heat input. For each reaction run, the DCR unit was operated for a first period with an oxygen soak time of 1 minute and for a second period with an oxygen soak time of 7 minutes.

[0076] The propane feed rate (standard liters per hour (SLPH)), catalyst circulation rate (kg / h), supplemental fuel stream composition (molar and weight percent), supplemental fuel stream feed rate (SLPH), heat input (MBTU / hr), catalyst-to-methane ratio (lbs / lbs) in the catalyst processing portion, weight hourly space velocity (WHSV hr-1) of propane, and oxygen soak time for oxygen treatment are provided below in Table 1. The catalyst circulation rates in Examples 1 and 2 refer to the rates at which the catalyst circulates between the reactor portion and the catalyst processing portion. Propane conversions for operating the reactor system with oxygen soak times of 1 minute and 7 minutes were determined and reported in Table 1. Table 1: Process parameters and propane conversion of Example 1 Reaction run 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E Supplementary fuel composition Methane (molar %) 100 75 20 11 0 Hydrogen (molar %) 0.01 25 80 89 100 Reaction process parameters Propane feed rate (SLPH) 180 180 180 180 180 Propane WHSV (h-1) 4.5 4.4 3.6 4.1 3.7 Catalyst circulation rate (kg / hr) 18.6 19.5 20.2 20.0 19.5 Supplementary fuel rate (SLPH) 50 61 113 131 164 Heat input (KBTU / h) 1.57 1.57 1.56 1.55 1.54 82708-AR-NP Catalyst / methane weight ratio in combustion chamber (lbs / lbs) 561:1 643:1 1349:1 2095:1 >2500:1* Propane conversion Propane conversion (%) 1-minute oxygen soak time 42.1 42.9 45.7 44.6 48.2 Propane conversion (%) 7-minute oxygen soak time 43.2 43.9 45.8 45.3 49.1 * 1E having supplemental fuel comprising 0 mol% methane represents the theoretical upper limit of the catalyst weight ratio to methane

[0077] As shown in Table 1, for Example 1, the propane conversion with a 1-minute oxygen soak time increases from 42.1% to 44.6% when the catalyst-to-methane weight ratio in the catalyst processing portion is increased from 561:1 (1A) to 2095:1 (1D). Therefore, increasing the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the catalyst processing portion from 561:1 to 2095:1 increased the propane conversion by 6%. As the catalyst-to-methane weight ratio in the combustion chamber of the catalyst processing portion increases further beyond 2095:1, such as beyond 2500:1, as in Example 1E, the propane conversion levels off at a maximum theoretical propane conversion of approximately 50%.For example, increasing the weight ratio of catalyst to methane in the combustion chamber from 561:1 (1A) to the theoretical limit (1E) produces an increase in propane conversion from 42.1% to 48.2% (1 min. oxygen soak time), which is an increase of about 14.5%.

[0078] Example 2: Effect of catalyst to hydrocarbon weight ratio on the conversion of propane dehydrogenation reactions at a relatively high heat input

[0079] In Example 2, the effects of increasing the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the catalyst processing portion of a propane conversion system were evaluated. 82708-AR-NP propane dehydrogenation reactor operating at a relatively high heat input (i.e., 3 times the supplementary fuel flow rate of Example 1). The propane dehydrogenation reactions were carried out in the DCR unit described in Example 1. In Example 2, the catalyst processing was carried out at a relatively high heat input, which was achieved by increasing the supplementary fuel stream flow rate to 3 times the supplementary fuel stream flow rate of Example 1. The propane dehydrogenation reactions were carried out at a constant heat input of approximately 4,700 BTU / hr (4.7 KBTU / h). All other operating parameters were the same. The propane dehydrogenation reactions were carried out with supplementary fuel streams comprising hydrogen and methane.For reaction runs 2A-2E, the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratios in the catalyst processing portion were adjusted by changing the molar concentration of methane in the supplemental fuel stream. The supplemental fuel stream flow rate was increased by decreasing the methane concentration to maintain reactor system operation at a constant heat input. The propane feed rate, catalyst circulation rate, supplemental fuel stream composition, supplemental fuel stream feed rate, heat input, catalyst-to-methane ratio in the catalyst processing portion of the reaction system, propane WHSV, and oxygen soak time for the oxygen treatment are provided below in Table 2.Propane conversions for operating the reactor system with oxygen soaking times of 1 minute and 7 minutes were determined and reported in Table 1. 82708-AR-NP Table 2: Process parameters and propane conversion of Example 2 Reaction execution 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E Complementary fuel composition Methane (molar %) 100 75 20 11 0 Hydrogen (molar %) 0.01 25 80 89 100 Reaction process parameters Propane feed rate (SLPH) 192 180 180 180 180 Propane WHSV (h-1) 5.4 3.7 3.2 3.5 3.8 Circulation rate of catalyst (kg / hr) 18.0 20.0 20.2 20.0 20.1 Supplemental fuel rate (SLPH) 150 182 338 393.3 394.3 Heat input (KBTU / h) 4.71 4.72 4.67 4.66 3.71 Catalyst / methane weight ratio in combustion chamber (lbs / lbs) 181:1 221:1 451:1 698:1 >2500:1* Propane conversion Propane conversion (%) - 1 minute oxygen soak time 34.9 37.2 44.0 42.0 48.5 Propane conversion (%) - 7 minute oxygen soak time 37.7 43.1 47.0 44.8 49.1 * 2E than It has supplemental fuel comprising 0 mol% methane, which represents the theoretical upper limit of the catalyst weight ratio to methane.

[0080] As shown in Table 2, for the propane dehydrogenations of Example 2 performed at a relatively high heat input, the conversion of propane with a 1-minute oxygen soak time increases from 34.9% to 42.0% when the catalyst-to-methane weight ratio in the catalyst processing portion is increased from 181:1 (2A) to 698:1 (2D). Therefore, at a relatively high heat input, increasing the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the catalyst processing portion from 181:1 to 698:1 increased the propane conversion by 20%. As the catalyst-to-methane weight ratio in the combustion chamber of the catalyst processing portion increases further than 698:1, such as to more than 2500:1 as in Example 2E, the conversion of 82708-AR-NP propane levels off to a maximum theoretical propane conversion of about 50%. For example, increasing the catalyst-to-methane weight ratio in the combustion chamber from 181:1 (2A) to the theoretical limit (2E) results in an increase in propane conversion from 34.9% to 48.5% (1 min. oxygen soak time), which is an increase of about 39%.

[0081] With respect to Figure 5, the propane conversion (%) (y-axis) (700) is shown graphically as a function of the catalyst weight ratio to methane in the catalyst processing portion (x-axis) for the propane dehydrogenations of Examples 1 and 2. As shown graphically in Figure 5, the propane conversion 700 increases as the catalyst weight ratio to methane in the catalyst processing portion increases, given that the total heat input to the reactor system is held constant.

[0082] As shown in Figure 5, propane conversion increases rapidly when the catalyst-to-methane weight ratio in the catalyst processing portion increases to approximately 300:1. In other words, below a catalyst-to-methane weight ratio of 300:1, propane conversion decreases rapidly. Therefore, operating the reactor system with a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the catalyst processing portion of 300:1 or higher provides superior performance compared to operating the reactor system with a catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio of less than 300:1.As the catalyst-to-methane weight ratio in the catalyst processing portion increases above 300:1, such as from 300:1 to 2500:1, the rate of increase in propane conversion slows and eventually reaches a plateau at just over 50% conversion, at which point the amount of methane (hydrocarbon) in the catalyst processing portion is negligible. In Figure 5, a catalyst-to-methane weight ratio of around 2500:1 is assumed to represent an infinitely large weight ratio that is not... 82708-AR-NP corresponds to methane in the catalyst processing portion (i.e., there is no methane or other hydrocarbons in the supplemental fuel stream). The propane dehydrogenations of Examples 1 and 2 demonstrate that increasing the catalyst-to-hydrocarbon weight ratio in the catalyst processing portion to 300:1 or greater, or even 500:1 or greater, can substantially increase the propane conversion of the reactor system.

[0083] For the purpose of describing and defining the present invention, it is noted that the term "around" is used herein to represent the inherent degree of uncertainty that may be attributed to any comparison, value, measurement, or other quantitative representation. The term is also used herein to represent the degree to which a quantitative representation may vary from an established reference without resulting in a change in the basic function of the object in question.

[0084] It is noted that one or more of the following claims use the term "whereas" as a transitional phrase. For the purpose of defining the present invention, it is noted that this term is introduced in the claims as an open transitional phrase used to introduce an enumeration of several features of the structure and should be interpreted in the same way as the more commonly used open preamble term comprising.

[0085] In general, inlet ports and outlet ports of any system unit of Reactor System 102 described herein refer to openings, holes, channels, gaps, spaces, or other similar mechanical features in the system unit. For example, inlet ports permit the entry of materials into the particular system unit, and outlet ports permit the exit of materials from the particular system unit. In general, an outlet port or inlet port will define the area of ​​a system unit of Reactor System 102 to which a pipe, conduit, tube, hose, material conveying line, or similar mechanical feature is connected, or a portion of the system unit to which another system unit is directly connected. While 82708-AR-NP Input ports and output ports may sometimes be described herein as functionally functioning, may have similar or identical physical characteristics, and their respective functions in an operating system should not be interpreted as limiting their physical structures. It will be evident to persons of average skill that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Since persons of average skill can think of modifications, combinations, subcombinations, and variations of the described embodiments that incorporate the spirit and substance of the invention, the invention should be construed as including everything within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for dehydrogenating a feed stream to produce one or more olefinic products, said method characterized in that it comprises: contacting the feed stream with a catalyst in a reactor portion of a reactor system, wherein: the reactor system comprises a fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation reactor system having a reactor portion and a catalyst processing portion; the catalyst comprises platinum, gallium, or both; and contact of the feed stream with the catalyst causes a reaction forming an effluent stream comprising the one or more olefinic products; separating at least a portion of the effluent stream from the catalyst; and passing the catalyst to the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system;processing the catalyst in the catalyst processing portion of the reactor system, wherein processing the catalyst comprises: passing the catalyst to a combustion chamber of the catalyst processing portion; burning a supplementary fuel stream in the combustion chamber to heat the catalyst, wherein the supplementary fuel stream comprises at least 1 mole percent of one or more hydrocarbons, and the weight ratio of the catalyst to one or more hydrocarbons in the combustion chamber is at least 300:1; treating the heated catalyst with an oxygen-containing gas to produce a reactivated catalyst; and passing the reactivated catalyst from the catalyst processing portion to the reactor portion of the reactor system. Ten claims follow;