Simulation of an Atmospheric Residue Desulfurization Unit by Quasi-Steady State Modeling

The current trend in petroleum refining is to maximize the conversion of the bottom of the barrel to improve the profitability of the refinery. Atmospheric residue desulfurization (ARDS) plays a key role in this, especially, when processing crudes with moderate to high sulfur contents. A deterministic quasi‐steady state model has been developed to simulate the long term behavior of the reaction section of an atmospheric residue desulfurization (ARDS) unit, consisting of four co‐current catalytic trickle bed reactors in series. The model uses the properties of the feedstock and the catalyst and is capable of simulating profiles of sulfur, coke, and metal depositions and the temperature along the reactors, taking into account also catalyst deactivation. Hydrogen quenching has also been simulated and simulation results predict all the essentials of the long term behavior of both experimental and industrial scale ARDS reactors satisfactorily. Comparing the simulation results with actual commercial data, the model predicted perfectly the middle part of the run. The model is unable to simulate the End‐of‐Run conditions due to pore mouth plugging phenomenon. The current trend in petroleum refining is to maximize the conversion of the bottom of the barrel to improve the profitability of the refinery. Atmospheric Residue Desulfurization (ARDS) plays a key role in this, especially, when processing crudes with moderate to high sulfur contents.